Q & A Does crying show weakness, or is it healthy?

I personally believe that crying most of the time is healthy.

Crying (or impulse to cry) is no other than our instinctual response to relief stress: i.e. our body’s and emotional system’s mechanism to get rid of the access stress and the energy that was created by the situation.

When we allow ourselves to cry, we allow the natural relief and also completion of the trauma cycle. When we suppress the crying, we suppress the cycle and we make that emotional energy to remain stuck in our body.

I believe the ability to cry, especially when responding to situations where we feel sadness, grief, anger, loss, unfairness, empathy (other emotions as well) we are using our body’s natural ability for emotional healing and therefore it is a sign of health.

Photo by Luiz Galvez

There is one exception where I think that crying is a weakness is when crying is used to manipulate. Meaning: the act of crying is using to pressurize another person in the wanted outcome. In this case, the person is using crying because they don’t trust themselves to be able to get what they want in a direct way.

The way to tell the difference is: when crying is used as a way to let out emotions and relieve the tension it is healthy, and when crying is used in similar situations but as a tool to get what the person wants then it is a weakness.

Anyway, at the end of the day, my message for you is this: if you feel like crying and you feel that you are in a safe space to do so, allow yourself to cry - it is healthier than keeping that tension inside.

May the health, peace and vision be with you.

And the force, of course. ;)

Ruta