When a person cries, he does not ask himself a question"why?", but simply feels a strong feeling, causing tears to flow and a voice change. Any living person in his life ever cried. For the child this is the only way to report that it is bad for him.
Reflex crying. Psychology of crying
The human being has intelligence, knows how todistinguish between objects and phenomena, give estimates and predict. Countless reasons and consequences we can comment on, but what is crying and what happens to our brain at this time, it is difficult to say objectively to scientists.
We know that crying is:
1) Reflex response, when something is in the eye. Such phenomenon is also more important for animals.
2) Emotional reaction.Tears can be caused by emotions: sadness, pain or grief due to the loss of a loved one. After crying, it becomes easier to bear internal mental or physical pain.
3) Also very sentimental people are crying.
It can not be said what is actually happening andHow these tears help to feel relief. Feeling grief after some shock, a person requires participation. At this time he is very vulnerable. If there is no one to support him, he directs his eyes to the sky, and the answers to exciting questions are looking for space in infinity.
Some people just do not like to see their tears, and prefer to hide them, forbidding themselves to cry. Is it not harmful?
Where does the crying come from?
So, it turns out, crying is inherent only to people, sohow their emotions are more developed. But still it remains unclear, what is this - crying? Trying to understand this, researchers distinguish three functions that a "tearful apparatus" can perform in our life.
1) Disinfecting function.The disinfecting action of lysozyme, a substance contained in a lacrimal fluid, has already been proven. When a person allows himself to cry, his tears kill about 90% of the bacteria that are touched. Tears also constantly moisturize the eyes and prevent them from drying out.
2) Emotional convergence. Bitter crying in a person causes sympathy for others. Emotionally warm people try to help, hug the crying.
3) Stress relief.Having cried, the person feels, that from it "the weight" slept ". During crying cortisol is released, it is also known as a stress hormone. When we cry, the body is in a state of full combat readiness, when calming all the muscles relax. This pleasant relaxation is felt as a relief in the physical plane.
Crying begins when the hormonal systemacts on the lacrimal glands. Cortisol causes the vocal cords to contract as well. Therefore, a person feels a "lump coming to his throat." Often those people who are prone to melancholy, touchyness cry. Depressed emotional state, as well as stress, is a provoking factor that changes hormones. The hormone of tears is produced - prolactin, and we begin to cry.
Who cries more often?
Naturally, women cry more.They freely express emotions. Prolactin is a predominantly female hormone. Masculine, tough men who have little of such a hormone, most of them do not understand what crying is and why it is needed. They are pragmatic and make decisions, removing emotions from themselves. But then they need a sensitive, “tearful” woman nearby.
But still there are sensitive men who do not hesitate to express their emotions. Therefore, the fact that men do not know how to cry is only a myth.
Inability to cry - diagnosis?
In the world of psychology, projecting other people's emotions onself is called empathy. Such people are easily upset when they see the pain of a stranger or by sympathizing with the hero of a fictional story. Studying this phenomenon helps to better understand what crying is.
But there are people in the world who absolutely can notcry. This is the opposite pole of empathy - people who are closed, without tact and compassion. Crying needs to be able to, that is, it is necessary to allow sometimes negative emotions and stress to go out.
If a person absolutely does not know how to experiencejoy, no anger, no grief, and tears do not break out for years - this is a very bad sign. Such an emotional “numbness” psychiatrists attribute to the initial signs of sluggish schizophrenia. Sometimes the inability to cry is associated with poor performance of the lacrimal glands. This condition is called dry eye disease.
Crying as a way to alleviate emotional state
When a little baby cries, and his adultsthis moment is encouraged, comforted, it will grow up emotionally stable and calm. And, on the contrary, many people who in childhood were forbidden to pour out their grief, later grow up lonely, unable to sympathize, or very disturbing.
It is known that in tears there are also psychotropicenzymes that help relieve anxiety, reduce pain. Toxic substances also come out with tears, just like with urine and sweat. That is why crying is important. As it happens, you still need to find out and explore more deeply. Who does not allow himself to cry quietly at times, has to carry all the "dirty" enzymes in himself and is sick more often.
