After careful examination of the salty secretions produced by our lacrimal glands, scientists can tell us that tears are a biological necessity, but that not all tears are the same. There are basal tears, which keep the eyes lubricated; reflex tears, which are produced when we peel onions or get an eyeful of sand; and emotional tears.
Emotional tears are a response to physical or emotional pain, and they don't develop until babies are several months old. These differ from other tears on a chemical level. Not only do emotional tears have more protein than basal or reflex tears, they also contain manganese and the hormone prolactin -- both chemicals that the body produces in response to stress. Women produce higher levels of the mood-altering prolactin -- which stimulates lactation and has a calming effect -- although that may or may not explain why women cry more than men.
Either way, it seems we purge our bodies of stress-related chemicals when we cry, which might make us feel better because it restores our chemical balance. Even so, that doesn't explain why we cry.
I start crying in an argument or when I'm angry.
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The Biology of Tears
After careful examination of the salty secretions produced by our lacrimal glands, scientists can tell us that tears are a biological necessity, but that not all tears are the same. There are basal tears, which keep the eyes lubricated; reflex tears, which are produced when we peel onions or get an eyeful of sand; and emotional tears.
Emotional tears are a response to physical or emotional pain, and they don't develop until babies are several months old. These differ from other tears on a chemical level. Not only do emotional tears have more protein than basal or reflex tears, they also contain manganese and the hormone prolactin -- both chemicals that the body produces in response to stress. Women produce higher levels of the mood-altering prolactin -- which stimulates lactation and has a calming effect -- although that may or may not explain why women cry more than men.
Either way, it seems we purge our bodies of stress-related chemicals when we cry, which might make us feel better because it restores our chemical balance. Even so, that doesn't explain why we cry.