Cry Your Eyes Out: 10 Reasons Crying Is Good For You

Speaking of cortisol, crying helps the body to detox by removing this and other stress hormones. During times of emotional turmoil, the body produces and accumulates an abundance of chemicals like cortisol that wreak havoc internally. These naturally occurring stressors build up and can overwhelm a person if not released. Other biological processes like exhaling and sweating release certain toxins from the body, and crying serves the same purpose, according to a study performed by Dr. William Frey. The biochemist and director of Psychiatry Research Laboratories at the St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center also determined that “[s]everal of the chemicals present in emotional crying are the protein prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormones, and the endorphin leucine-enkephalin, which reduces pain.” Our tears contain a number of chemicals and hormones, and their release cleanses the body of them, giving us both an emotional as well as physical “clean slate” to better handle an unpleasant situation.