Tyler Cymet*, Destiny Sciuva and Anthony Sciuva
Crying is a physiological response with an emotional component. We review the literature on crying and raise questions about the role of crying and its positive and negative effects. The act of crying is poorly understood. The current accepted definition of crying focuses on the production of tears and does not mention an emotional component to the physiological process of crying. Data exploring the emotional component of crying exists and is examined considering the currently accepted definitions. The concept of crying as a physiological response with an emotional component, and an emotional experience that is greater than the production of tears is explored. Correlation of crying and different disease processes are reviewed. The authors advance a hypothesis that crying comes out of feelings of helplessness, loss of control and externalization of an experience. Hormonal involvement in crying and the differences between pediatric crying and adult crying are discussed. The authors look at the data on patterns of crying within individuals, cultures and how current patterns of crying could predict future crying behavior in individuals.
