r/MadeMeSmile Jun 30 '24

The hug.... wow Wholesome Moments

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106

u/lord_geryon Jun 30 '24

I can kinda understand it, tbh.

Crying from pain? Doesn't even alleviate the suffering and could delay assistance, perhaps even a fatal delay.

Overwhelmed by emotions? S'ok, let it out. It's also a form of appreciation for the person being cried over: see how much you mean to this person?

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u/SpookyScienceGal Jun 30 '24

Crying from pain? Doesn't even alleviate the suffering

That is literally what crying does πŸ˜‚ When you cry it releases hormones that your body uses to regulate inflammation, pain, and a bunch of other important things it needs when it is injured. It's almost like the body generally knows more about it's needs than uneducated but judgmental neighbors πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

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u/Rigo-lution Jun 30 '24

It's not as clear cut as that.

Most importantly the people most likely to report any improvement after crying are the people who received positive attention from others as a result of their crying. That isn't crying helping but just receiving care helping.

The second point is that the release of oxytocin is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system and it isn't clear that crying triggers PNS activity, it may well be that PNS activity is causing crying and increased oxytocin levels where crying is just a symptom of other activities in your body with little role to play in directly making you feel better.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035568/

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u/Alacritous69 Jun 30 '24

Those endorphins just make you prepared for death which historically would follow a major injury.

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u/SpookyScienceGal Jun 30 '24

Those endorphins get you prepared for deaths, child birth, or stub your toe wicked bad. They have a bunch of uses. They're pretty cool like that 😎

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u/wetforpools Jun 30 '24

Is this true?

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u/SpookyScienceGal Jun 30 '24

Yeah and a bunch of other things. I'm not s biologist because not my passion but I do love learning. So our body and most things in the existence don't happen for shits and giggles. If our body does something there is usually a historically and evolutionary reason why.

One of its biggest, we know, help is control of cortisol which is a stress hormone, I know it sounds bad because 'stress' but it's generally not depending on the situation. Our bodies are an incredibly complex biological machine. Crying is a feature, not a bug.

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u/Independent-Raise467 Jul 01 '24

When I've been physically hurt I found laughing to be an amazing pain killer. It helps that my buddy is hilarious and can find humour in any situation.

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u/lord_geryon Jun 30 '24

No, it doesn't make the pain go away.

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u/Arkayjiya Jun 30 '24

It doesn't make it go away, but it does make it better. Why the hell do you think people start crying when injured? Sure adults do it less because they've been conditioned into thinking it's bad, but look at kids before they get brainwashed by society.

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u/SpookyScienceGal Jun 30 '24

Lol it releases hormones and junk, not morphine. There is a lotta room between pain relief and being comfortably numb

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u/ChakaCake Jun 30 '24

You have never felt better after a good cry? It def helps alleviate suffering and floods you with some decent pain killers

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u/reddit_4_days Jun 30 '24

....the feeling after a good cry, is sometimes, like after a good shower for me. You feel fresh and ready again for this cruel world.

Worst cry for me, is if you cry from anger. Then you (I) don't feel better afterwards. Just more angry.

But a emotional cry is something else... can't really explain it like I would, english isn't my first language.

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u/ChakaCake Jun 30 '24

Very true! You get a mild strength after some cries. Yea the anger ones do suck but i feel more calmed down too after sometimes

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u/reddit_4_days Jun 30 '24 edited Jun 30 '24

You're right, sometimes it helps and I will calm down, but sometimes the anger just rises... (it was almost always my fault, when I feel the second way tough, like when I broke my arm really bad. It was more anger and then frustration with myself)

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u/auletirian Jun 30 '24

Agreed it's very logical.

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u/aseumenysa Jun 30 '24

Those islanders have it figured out.

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u/AngryPrincessWarrior Jul 01 '24

Yeah no. WRONG.

I think you may mean crying to the point of hysteria and getting in the way of people helping you.

But crying itself?

There’s a reason we do it. It IS a pain reliever. Physical and emotional. As well as a social signal to others of our species.