Why Do We Cry

3 Pages 854 Words

According to the Webster’s Dictionary, “cry” means “to sob or shed tears because of grief, sorrow, pain, or extreme excitement.” Crying starts at childbirth. Although babies don't shed tears when they cry until about two months of age, the first thing a newborn does when it receives its first breathe of air is cry. Crying is a result of emotion. Crying is the human race’s number one form of communication. With crying, everyone from babies to adults can communicate sadness, anger, fear, and even happiness.
Why do we cry? This is a question that is difficult to answer in context, but rather simple to explain. Emotions are experienced everyday for a variety of reasons. If a person is happy, then usually they will smile. If a person is sad, they will appear gloomy. People express their emotions to allow the people around them to know how they feel, but only if they want to.
For example if something bad happens to you or someone close to you dies for example it is very hard to hide the sadness that you feel, and the normal thing to do is cry. I know some tough people try to hide these emotions, but it is sometimes impossible to do, it is almost like the bodies’ way of dealing with a certain problem, or the bodies’ way of coping with certain situations.
According to USA Today, “We make three kinds of tears: Basal tears for simple eyeball lubrication, reflex tears to wash away irritants (onion fumes, debris specks, or hits to the eye), and emotional tears. Weeping tears contain various hormones that the other tears don't and 20 to 25 percent more protein. We don't know why emotional tears differ but it's interesting that they do. These tears may wash the body clean of wastes.”
"...crying is a distress signal," says James Gross, psychology professor at Stanford University. Seeing someone cry often triggers crying. We don't like to cry; it makes us feel bad. Thus, my tears motivate you to stop me from crying so you ...