New
York Times reporter Benedict Carey referred to tears in a piece as “emotional perspiration.”Given
that I sweat a lot and hate deodorant, I suppose it makes sense that I weep
often. But I’m not going to apologize for that, because after a good cry, I
always feel cleansed, like my heart and mind just rubbed each other’s backs in
a warm bath.
In
his intriguing article, “The
Miracle of Tears”, from which I’ve borrowed some of the research
for this post, author Jerry Bergman writes: “Tears are just one of many miracles
which work so well that we taken them for granted every day.” Here, then, are
seven ways tears and the phenomenon we call “crying” heal us physiologically,
psychologically, and spiritually.
1. Tears help us see.
Starting
with the most basic function of tears, they enable us to see. Literally. Tears
not only lubricate our eyeballs and eyelids, they also prevent dehydration of
our various mucous membranes. No lubrication, no eyesight. Writes
Bergman: “Without tears, life would be drastically different for
humans — in the short run enormously uncomfortable, and in the long run
eyesight would be blocked out altogether.”
2. Tears kill bacteria.
No
need for Clorox wipes. We’ve got tears! Our own antibacterial and antiviral
agent working for us, fighting off all the germs we pick up on community
computers, shopping carts, public sinks, and all those places the nasty little
guys make their homes and procreate. Tears contain lysozyme, a fluid that the
germ-a-phobic dreams about in her sleep,
because it can kill 90 to 95 percent of all bacteria in just five to 10
minutes! Which translates, I’m guessing, to three months’ worth of colds and
stomach viruses.
3. Tears remove toxins.
Biochemist
William Frey, who has been researching tears for as long as I’ve been searching
for sanity, found in one study that emotional tears–those formed in distress or
grief–contained more toxic byproducts than tears of irritation (think onion
peeling). Are tears toxic then? No! They actually remove toxins from our body
that build up courtesy of stress. They are like a natural therapy or massage session, but they cost a lot less!
4. Crying can elevate mood.
Do
you know what your manganese level is? No, neither do I. But chances are that
you will feel better if it’s lower because overexposure to manganese can cause
bad stuff: anxiety,
nervousness, irritability, fatigue, aggression, emotional disturbance and the
rest of the feelings that live inside my happy head rent-free. The act of
crying can lower a person’s manganese level. And just like with the toxins I
mentioned in my last point, emotional tears contain 24 percent higher albumin
protein concentration — responsible for transporting many small molecules
(which has to be a good thing, right?) — than irritation tears.
5. Crying lowers stress.
Tears
really are like perspiration in that exercising and crying both relieve stress.
For real. Bergman explains that tears remove some of the
chemicals built up in the body from stress, like the endorphin
leucine-enkaphalin and prolactin, the hormone I overproduce because of my
pituitary tumor that affects my mood and stress tolerance. The opposite is true
too. Bergman writes, “Suppressing tears increases stress levels, and
contributes to diseases aggravated by stress, such as high blood pressure,
heart problems, and peptic ulcers."
6. Tears build community.
In her “Science Digest” article, writer Ashley
Montagu argued that crying not only contributes to good health, but it also
builds community. I know what you’re thinking: “Well, yeah, but not the right
kind of community. I mean, I might ask the woman bawling her eyes out behind me
in church what’s wrong or if I can help her, but I’m certainly not going to
invite her to dinner.”
7. Tears release feelings.
Even
if you haven’t just been through something traumatic or are severely depressed,
the average Jo goes through his day accumulating conflicts and resentments.
Sometimes they gather inside the limbic system of the brain and in certain
corners of the heart. Crying is cathartic. It lets the devils out. Before they
wreak all kind of havoc with the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Writes
John Bradshaw in his bestseller Home Coming:
“All these feelings need to be felt. We need to stomp and storm; to sob and
cry; to perspire and tremble.” Amen, Brother Bradford!
I HOPE YOU'LL ENJOY THE READ.
Anything else if you wanna ask then ask me i'll reply with an answer soon
Ask harsh or Ask HARSH on anything. . .
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