Your Tears Are Toxic Chemical Leaks (link to original article provided below)
All right, so what about crying? It would almost make sense if crying were something we always did in response to physical pain, like when we were kids — even animals will squeal or yelp when somebody accidentally steps on them. But humans cry over everything — when tragedy strikes, when we see a sad movie, when we’re really happy. Why in the world would strong emotion cause your eyes to start leaking fluids out of your face?
The Surprising Truth:
While we usually think of crying as either weakness or Oscar bait, some researchers think the act of crying is actually the body’s way of evicting stress — literally.
As with most things, it all starts with brain chemicals. There is one called adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and it plays a crucial part in triggering cortisol, the hormone responsible for stress. When you get emotionally agitated, ACTH builds up, which in turn leads to more and more stress. Which makes you easier to agitate. It’s a vicious cycle to which there is no escape. So why don’t we all just choke to death on stress buildup every time we see a sad story in the newspaper?
Because sometimes, your brain just flat out declares that it has had enough of this stuff and blasts a bunch of ACTH out of your body. Through your tear ducts. We guess that’s better than leaking them out of other parts…
So crying is just the body’s way of stabilizing its chemical levels by literally squirting excess stress chemicals out through the tear ducts like optic blasts made of tiny frowns. That’s the reason most people feel better after crying — all that stuff that used to make you sad has literally been removed.
