Having cancer is like riding a roller coaster. One minute you’re up the next minute you’re down. Uncertainties about your illness, side effects from treatment, financial difficulties, stress at home with your spouse or children can all take a huge toll on your emotions. Sometimes you just need a good cry. I know when I cry, I feel better.
Not many people can say they have ever seen me cry. I don’t like to cry in front of people. I don’t want people to know that anything is wrong, and I don’t want to be perceived as being weak. I’m a closet crier. I cry when I’m alone. I’m not often alone, so I find myself having my good cries in the car while driving, which causes me, at times, to pull over to the side of the road until I get it all out. As a doctor, I wouldn’t recommend that. I think its actually better to cry with someone present. That way, you get some reassurance and comfort from another person. I guess that’s another reason I blog my thoughts and feelings. But whether you cry alone or with someone, if you need to cry, just do it.
Crying is good. Here are 4 reasons why you should let the tears flow.
- Crying Relieves Stress
- We all know that stress is bad for us. Stress can increase you blood pressure, your risk for heart disease, and stroke.
- Tears remove some of the chemicals built up in the body in response to stress.
- Crying helps the eye.
- Lubricates the eyeballs and eyelids. It and helps us see better.
- Releases toxins- One study found that emotional tears (those formed in distress or grief), contained more toxic byproducts than tears of irritation. Tears actually remove toxins from our body that build up, courtesy of stress.
- Kills bacteria in the eye. Tears contain lysozyme, a fluid that can kill 90 to 95 percent of all bacteria in the eye in just five to ten minutes.
- Crying improves your mood.
- Overexposure to manganese can cause anxiety, nervousness, irritability, fatigue, aggression, and emotional disturbance.
- Crying reduces the body’s manganese level. Manganese is a mineral that affects mood. It is found in high concentrations in tears.
- It means you are human
- Only humans shed tears in response to emotional stress.
- Crying is cathartic. Those feelings and emotions need to be released, before they wreak all kind of havoc with the heart and mind.
So the next time you get sad or overwhelmed, go ahead have a good cry. It won’t fix the situation, but I guarantee that you will feel better about it. Holding back tears does more harm than good. The cancer has done enough harm, so let your tears start the healing process.
: Tears cleanse the body and the soul
