In addition, emotional crying, as a way to vent and release emotional trauma, also relieves our body of countless toxins and hormones like cortisol and prolactin, which contribute to elevated stress levels. Ridding our bodies of these chemicals by “having a good cry” can, in turn, help us sleep better.
“After a tough crying session, have a quick catnap if possible,” advises Rhodes. “If this isn't practical, try some meditation or go for a walk in a green space. You need to actively work on calming the emotional part of your brain down. Drink some water to get your fluid levels back up.
Your stress level lowers when you cry, which can help you sleep better and strengthen your immune system.
Crying releases stress-relieving hormones, such as oxytocin and endorphins, which calm you down and make you sleepy. The act of crying is your body's way of soothing itself after an overwhelming experience and can leave you feeling tired as you calm down.
Apart from an emotional impact some people even feel that their skin starts glowing and turns brighter. But have you ever thought about why your skin behaves in such a way? Well, it's because the blood vessels of your face dilate and cause increased blood flow. But in long term, crying can cause damage to your skin.
Crying causes a release of endorphins or feel-good hormones and a reduction in stress hormones like cortisol, which have been linked to breakouts and other skin conditions. Though this may require more research, indications are that occasional bouts of crying can be good for the skin in the long run.
(They're uncomfortable, too, if you've been crying a river.) "These effects can last for as little as a few minutes or stretch on for a few hours," says Marina Peredo, MD, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
It's best not to hold in emotions all the time, but sometimes it's important to hold back tears. If you need to control a cry, try to hold back your tears just until you're in a better place for them. This way you won't suppress your emotions altogether.
When a person cries, several muscles in their face tense up. They may also feel tension in their jaw, down their neck, and at the back of their head. If a person is crying over a prolonged period, the continuous contractions of these muscles may result in a tension headache.
In the short term, it can cause pesky problems such as irritability, anxiety, and poor sleep. But over time, repressing your tears can lead to cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension — or even cancer.
Treatment for trauma
By concentrating on what's happening in your body, you can release pent-up trauma-related energy through shaking, crying, and other forms of physical release.
The salt in tears leads to water retention and swelling around our eyes. More blood is also flowing to the whole facial region, causing a strained, red, puffy face-the same physiological reaction that comes with the "Fight or Flight" instinct.
When you are happy, angry, or sad, your body releases a hormone that makes your pupil size change. When you're happy or angry, your eyes usually become more vibrant, while when you cry, your eyes obtain a reddish color, making your eyes appear brighter.
Dr. Hayag also mentions something called petechiae, which are tiny red or purple dots on the skin that can occur after excessive crying. “These dots usually disappear after a few days, unlike broken capillaries,” she says.
Ulrich said by covering part of their face they can feel hidden from the shocking event. Additionally these reactions serve a second purpose by allowing a person to soothe themselves through touch also called a "pacifier" gesture.
By the process of osmosis, water from your tears flows through a semipermeable membrane into the tissue around your eyes to balance out the concentration of salt on either side. This causes your eyes to appear puffy, which is only aggravated when you rub them while you're crying.
Basal and reflex tears contain higher levels of salt than emotional tears. This helps protect your eyes and keep them healthy. What emotional tears lack in salt, they make up for in hormones. These hormones work as a natural painkiller by restoring balance in the body and reducing stress levels.
Crying apparently burns as much as laughing does, at about a rate of 1.3 calories a minute.
The stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol make the muscles of your face and scalp scrunch up. This increases pressure on your skull, which can cause a tension headache. A long crying session also works your facial muscles, and the lactic acid and other metabolic by-products of muscle fatigue will build up.