Crying in humans

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Man crying as French troops leave Toulon in 1940
Man crying as French troops leave Toulon in 1940

The term crying (pronounced /‚krˆ-iŠ/ from the Middle English crien or Old French crier [1]) most commonly refers to the act of shedding tears in response to an emotional state.

A neuronal connection between the tear duct and the areas of the human brain involved with emotion was established during human evolution facilitating the act of crying in response to emotion. No other animals are thought to produce tears in response to emotional states[2], although this is disputed by some scientists.[3]

According to a study of over 300 adults, on average men cry once every month, and women cry at least five times per month[4], especially before and during the menstrual cycle when crying can increase up to 5 times the normal rate, often without obvious reason such as depression or sadness.[5]

Tears produced during emotional crying have a chemical composition which differs from other types of tear. They contain significantly greater quantities of hormones prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, Leu-enkephalin[6] and elements potassium and manganese.[7]

Contents

[edit] Theories regarding function of crying

These range from the simple such as response to inflicted pain to the more complex including nonverbal communication in order to elicit helping behaviour from others.[8]

[edit] Flushing of stress chemicals

Due to the chemical composition of emotional tears, some scientists have hypothesized that a function of crying is to rid the body of stress hormones. William H. Frey II, a biochemist at the University of Minnesota, proposed in his publication "Crying; The Mystery of Tears" that people feel better after crying due to the elimination of hormones associated with stress[9], specifically adrenocorticotropic hormone.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
  2. ^ Why do we Cry,Walter, Chip,Source:Scientific American Mind; Dec2006, Vol. 17 Issue 6, p44, 8p,ISSN 1555-2284
  3. ^ Frey, WH. Crying: the Mystery of Tears. Chapter 14: Do Animals Shed Emotional Tears?pp. 135-139
  4. ^ Why do we Cry,Walter, Chip,Source:Scientific American Mind; Dec2006, Vol. 17 Issue 6, p44, 8p,ISSN 1555-2284
  5. ^ Fischer, Agneta. Gender and Emotion: Social Psychological Perspectives. 
  6. ^ Skorucak A. "The Science of Tears." ScienceIQ.com.
  7. ^ Why do we Cry,Walter, Chip,Source:Scientific American Mind; Dec2006, Vol. 17 Issue 6, p44, 8p,ISSN 1555-2284
  8. ^ On the Origin of Crying and Tears, Human Ethology Newsletter, Vol. 5 Issue 10, June 1989, p. 5-6
  9. ^ http://www.alzheimersinfo.org/index.php?page=grief-and-loss-2 personal page of Frey WH with quote from his book

[edit] Further reading

  • William H. Frey, Muriel Langseth (1985), Crying: The Mystery of Tears . Minneapolis. Winston Press.
  • Lutz, Tom (1999) Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears. New York. W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-04756-3.
  • Walter, Chip Why do we cry?. Scientific American Mind Dec 2006, Vol. 17 Issue 6; p. 44.
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