Ben Reihanian Week 9 - Why Do We Cry?

 Why Do We Cry?


    Chances are you've cried thousands of times over the course of your life, whether it be in times of deep sadness, emotional turmoil, happiness, while laughing, when you rub your eyes too much, or even while chopping onions. Well, there are actually three types of tears, basal tears, reflex tears, and emotional tears. 
    Basal tears are constantly lubricating your eyes and keeping them from becoming dry. Reflex tears, on the other hand, are linked to when our eyes are physically irritated. Whether it be by dust or onions, the irritant begins a chain reaction which releases hormones from the brain which then sends neurons to your tear glands in your eyelids. These tears then help remove the irritant. 
    Emotional tears are a pretty odd phenomenon only seen in humans and there are a few theories as to why this occurs. According to studies, scientists believe that in many cases emotional tears are able to act as a signal to others of our genuine sadness or distress. This signal is done in order to show an individual's need for one or more of these three things, need, appeasement, or attachment. 
    What about tears of happiness? Well, they're not so different from tears of sadness in the way that it is thought to be used as a signal for how one feels in order to strengthen social bonds between people. Both emotional types of crying activate the same parts of your brain, the hypothalamus, and the basal ganglia, which are connected to your tear glands. 
    
Another theory states that crying is linked to physically shedding one's own stress. This is backed by the fact that reflexive and emotional tears have very different compositions. Emotional tears are made much more out of proteins, specifically, adrenocorticotropic hormones (ACTH), which are linked to high-stress levels. It is thought that crying helps relieve your stress by flushing these hormones out of the body. 

When and why was the last time you cried? How did you feel after? 

Comments

  1. AnonymousNov 17, 2021, 6:37:00 PM

    I don't remember the last time I cried, I think it was during AP Chem. I was laughing so much that tears appeared. To be honest it was probably because of something stupid Ben Heller did. After having those tears of happiness I felt relaxed and in a pretty good mood.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDec 1, 2021, 1:30:00 AM

    Crying is something I find we do when we're really going through something and it helps you get everything off your chest. It can make you feel better after because you were able to feel the emotions you wanted to, and now you can do your best to move on.

    ReplyDelete

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