The Fact Behind Crying

By Staff

Monday, December 22, 2008, 17:56

A good cry could be good, but a lot depends up on what, where and when of a particular ''crying episode''. A new study by University of South Florida psychologists Jonathan Rottenberg and Lauren M. Bylsma, along with their colleague Ad J.J.M. Vingerhoets of Tilburg University revealed that a good cry often makes us feel a lot better and think properly.

For the study more than 300 crying experiences (outside the laboratory) were observed, majority of the participants reported to have felt a lot better after crying where as one-third felt no difference whatsoever and a tenth felt all the more worse.

The individuals who received social support while they cried, are the ones who felt a lot more better after it was over. However, various studies till date could not produced a clear picture of the benefits of crying as the results often depend on how crying is studied. The researchers face quite a few challenges while studying crying behavior within a laboratory setting.

Volunteers who cry in a laboratory setting often do not describe their experiences as being cathartic or making them feel better. In fact crying in the laboratory conditions often made the participants feel worse, which could be because of the stress caused when video taped or watched by research assistants. Thus, creating negetive emotions that neutralize any positive benefits at all.

The researchers have observed a few positive aspects of crying like calming affects, slower breathings and a few negative ones like unpleasant stress and arousal, including increased heart rate and sweating.

Interestingly, body calming affects last longer than the unpleasant arousals. The calming affects may over come the stress reactions, which would account for why people tend to remember mostly the pleasant side of crying. Research has shown that the effects of crying also depend on who is shedding the tears. For example, individuals with anxiety or mood disorders are least likely to experience the positive effects of crying.

The same applies for people suffering from alexithymia, a disorder in which the sufferer lacks any emotional insight. The authors suggest that for these individuals, their lack of emotional insight may prevent the kind of cognitive change required for a sad experience to be transformed into something positive.

So be sure to 'cry your heart out' and beat the blues away. AGENCIES