Have you ever been feeling frustrated, like nothing was going your way, and you just needed a good cry?
Turns out, there’s a reason for that! Historically, tears have been treated as something that is reasonable only for babies and small children, and a sign of weakness in older children and adults. However, it’s a bit more complicated than that.
Let’s start with the basics; In the current mindset researchers hold, there are 3 types of tears: basal, reflex, and emotional.
Basal tears are in your eyes at all times, coating those lovely balls of vision to keep them well lubricated and protected from debris and such.
Reflex tears are formed only when necessary and show up when you get that perfectly aimed squirt of onion juice in your eye, or perhaps find yourself in a smoky situation. These tears are released in larger quantities than basal tears, and it has been posited that they contain extra antibodies to really amp up protection for your eyes.
Finally, we have emotional tears. We all know emotional tears. The first clear memory of non-toddler-tantrum-related emotional tears I remember crying was while watching the final scenes of the movie E.T., and I’ve cried at the end of pretty much every movie since 🙂
Scientists have tentatively concluded that, contrary to popular belief, emotional tears serve an important purpose, releasing stress hormones, feel-good hormones (endorphins), and perhaps natural painkillers! The more you know 🙂
So next time someone calls you sensitive for crying when you realize Jack isn’t gonna fit on that piece of wood (Titanic reference 🙂 ), or when you’ve just had a frustrating day, you can tell them that actually, your emotional tears are good for you and will result in you having better mental/physical health overall!
Sources of info for this post:
- https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/facts-about-tears
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-crying-good-for-you-2021030122020
*As with any piece of media you consume, always be sure to double-check any information you are presented with, as there is a very good chance that, at the very least, some small part of this information was misrepresented. I will always try my best to at least be in the general vicinity of accuracy, but I can make no promises (I am but a human afterall 🙂 )
Musings of a Future NASA Scientist (Science & Music History) 
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