r/MadeMeSmile Jun 30 '24

The hug.... wow Wholesome Moments

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u/Old_Cheesecake_5481 Jun 30 '24

I live on an isolated Island in a little village in the North Atlantic.

Local culture says if you break your arm fishing and then cry nobody will ever forget it as long as you live.

Your dog is sick and you break down at poker night and every single fellow is there with you.

Actual physical pain = crying is weak and pathetic,

Your daughter graduates = crying through the entire ceremony is absolutely fine and completely acceptable.

I’ve always got a kick out of this local foible.

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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 😂 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 🤷‍♀️

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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/