Listening to podcasts the other day I choose at random with no time to be picky and ended up with an interesting one from Stuff to Blow Your Mind about crying. They talked about not only the biological purpose and benefits of tears, but also a little bit of history on crying, like a time when crying in public would be as bad as pissing your pants. I found it especially interesting that tears of sadness or pain actually contain stress relieving and pain relieving qualities.

Most people feel better after a good cry, but some people, usually people who have trouble with emotions to begin with, might feel worse. It’s a worthwhile listen! – http://www.stufftoblowyourmind.com/podcasts/cry-me-a-river/

Emotional tears have special health benefits. Biochemist and “tear expert” Dr. William Frey at the Ramsey Medical Center in Minneapolis discovered that reflex tears are 98% water, whereas emotional tears also contain stress hormones which get excreted from the body through crying. After studying the composition of tears, Dr. Frey found that emotional tears shed these hormones and other toxins which accumulate during stress. Additional studies also suggest that crying stimulates the production of endorphins, our body’s natural pain killer and “feel-good” hormones.”