A Good Cry

In this episode - A Good Cry . . .

First, thank you all for your warm, heartfelt wishes and kind words of encouragement about the loss of our dear family member, Junior, the cat.

I realize with all that’s happening in the world, the war in Israel and Ukraine, the ridiculous amount of school shootings and gun violence, and in general, the Bad News you hear about every night on the television news, the passing of one cat may seem quiet trivial in perspective.

However, I’m afraid our television (TV) generation of violence and killings has calloused our emotional system. Somehow, we’ve become the automatons we fear in the AI sector of our world. Allow me to clarify: in my humble opinion, when you lose a family member, that “force field” surrounding you disappears completely, and if you are human at all, you can’t help but break down suddenly at any given moment into a blubbering mass with a flood of tears and uncontrolled sobbing.

In a recent article from the Interesting Facts newsletter, shedding some tears can be one of the best ways to restore your emotional equilibrium. A 2014 study found that emotional crying activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates the body’s “rest and digest” actions. Crying also elevates levels of endorphins and oxytocin, which helps dull emotional and physical pain. And the physical act of crying — taking in big gulps of air — cools the brain and helps regulate your mood. Overall, “having a good cry” can be good for you.

Of course, whether crying makes you feel better depends on the situation. Tears inspire interpersonal benefits by signaling to others that you need support. Unsurprisingly, studies have shown that people who receive support after crying are more likely to feel happier than if they’re shamed for crying. So, while the physical act of crying can help our bodies return to emotional homeostasis, the support of friends and loved ones makes those good feelings stick.

Thank God for our pets, family, and friends and for building the delicate human emotional thermostat of crying into the human system.

I’m Patrick Ball. Thanks for listening. I’ll see you in the next episode.

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