Healing tears

Crying can be a good thing.

Check out this infographic to learn more.

Transcription:

Healing Tears

Crying can be a good thing.

Tears can relieve pain. Crying releases endorphins, the feel-good and pain relief hormones.

Tears can calm. Emotional tears contain higher levels of stress hormones than reflex tears or lubricating tears because your body destresses through crying.

Tears can clean. Tears have a natural enzyme called lysozyme, which has strong antimicrobial properties.

Tears can help your heart. Because crying alleviates negative emotions, releasing tears is linked with lower risk of heart attacks, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

Tears can be shared. In some cultures, crying is considered so important for mental health that people attend crying clubs, where they cry together.

SOURCES:

Frey, William H. 1985. Crying: The Mystery of Tears. Later Printing Edition. Minneapolis, MN: Winston Press.

Gračanin, Asmir, Lauren M. Bylsma, and Ad J. J. M. Vingerhoets. 2014. “Is Crying a Self-Soothing Behavior?” Frontiers in Psychology 5.

St. Michel, Patrick. 2015. “The Japanese Cry It Out.” The Atlantic, April 21.

Compiled by Abby Jorgensen, the Sociologist Doula.