why do people cry?

Question

why do we cry when we're upset?
what's the point of crying?
is there an evolutinary advantage to crying?

this is for a biology report type thing, help me out.
and i want real answers with facts, not dumb guesses that have no sources.

Answer 1

We have tear ducts to lubricate and protect our eyes from dust and other particles. The ducts are under the upper eyelids and produce a salty liquid—a tear-–-that gets spread throughout the eye after each blink. Animals too have the ability to produce tears, but not necessarily for the same reasons that we humans produce them.

Three types of tears are generated by the human eye. Basal tears protect the eye and keep it moist. Reflex tears flush out the eye when it becomes irritated. And emotional tears flow in response to sadness, distress, or physical pain.

Studies have shown that emotional tears contain more manganese, an element that affects temperament, and more prolactin, a hormone that regulates milk production. Sobbing out manganese and prolactin is thought to relieve tension by balancing the body’s stress levels and eliminating build ups of the chemicals, making the crier feel better.

But this minor physiological benefit aside, the most likely reason we produce emotional tears is because it’s a means of communication. Before babies can speak, they can cry. The only way for infants to express frustration, pain, fear, or need is to cry. Adults may use crying to bond with other humans. Expressing sadness can prompt comfort and support from peers. Different languages can provide barriers to spoken communication, but emotions are universal. There are also culturally acceptable reasons for crying that bring people together, such as at funerals or weddings.

Though there is a significant debate over whether animals have emotions and can express them, some animals do appear to cry for emotional reasons. Elephants seem to grieve when a family member dies and will guard the body and travel long distances to view it. Elephant experts at the London Zoo once told Charles Darwin that the animals do indeed mourn. Chimpanzees also appear to cry, but some scientists still insist that the tears released by these animals are strictly for cleaning the eye.

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Answer 2

Three types of tears are generated by the human eye. Basal tears protect the eye and keep it moist. Reflex tears flush out the eye when it becomes irritated. And emotional tears flow in response to sadness, distress, or physical pain.

Studies have shown that emotional tears contain more manganese, an element that affects temperament, and more prolactin, a hormone that regulates milk production. Sobbing out manganese and prolactin is thought to relieve tension by balancing the body’s stress levels and eliminating build ups of the chemicals, making the crier feel better.

But this minor physiological benefit aside, the most likely reason we produce emotional tears is because it’s a means of communication. Before babies can speak, they can cry. The only way for infants to express frustration, pain, fear, or need is to cry. Adults may use crying to bond with other humans. Expressing sadness can prompt comfort and support from peers. Different languages can provide barriers to spoken communication, but emotions are universal. There are also culturally acceptable reasons for crying that bring people together, such as at funerals or weddings.

Answer 3

Yes. Just got done, actually. My best friend since the age of 4 (I'm 20 now) died in September in a car crash. This will be the first Christmas in 16 years that we have not been together. I love and miss her soooo much. Been crying about it all afternoon until about 10 minutes ago.

Answer 4

the question can be taken many ways.
We cry when upset, this goes back to our dependency when children. When crying was the way to get attention of the caregiver for food, change the diaper, and other concerns. This carries through childhood and stays with some more than others through adulthood. That's basically why and the point. Your eyes can tear up to get things out of them, dust etc. but thats diff.

Evolutionary adv. many animals 'cry' in one way or another. kittens make noises to get attention, we call this crying even though, they don't get the tears, more like sobbing i guess. It can be advantageous just as any form of communication is helpful. The offspring can have a better chance at survival if they have this early warning system that can convey thier displeasure.

Answer 5

Infants cry as a way to communicate that they are in distress because they do not have language. Sometimes when people are unable to communicate their feelings, they too will cry. This is why some people cry when they are angry or happy, not only when they are sad. Some research has indicated that tears shed from emotion as (opposed to injury) contain higher levels of hormones and this may be a way for the body to release high levels of hormones caused by an emotional trigger.

Answer 6

we have tears to keep the eyes wet, lubricated.

it seems that, when we've got too many hormones flowing in our bloodstream for no good reason, or at least where the body cannot act / move (scared of a horror movie, sad about a sad movie, etc), there is an evolutionary benefit in quickly getting rid of these substances before they trigger a lot of unnecessary processes in the body (which would result in a waste of resources / energy).

it seems that crying to eliminate those substances in the tears, is the main mechanism.

Answer 7

I believe that tears are the souls way of bleeding. When we cut ourselves our skin must bleed to heal again. I think that tears are the souls way of bleeding and healing. You ever notice after a good cry things don't seem as bad? There are some things in our lives that take years to heal and the wounds can easily be reopened with memories. Emotional trauma can leave us with emotional scars. These scars can harden our hearts. You notice that people that have been through allot in life tend to be hardened or bitter to feelings. Tears are healthy. They help our souls to heal and recover from emotional bumps and bruises.
On the biology side, my Aunt works with monkeys at a lab ( I don't agree with this by the way) and there was one monkey that had to be operated on over and over. The last time she worked on him he looked at her and had a tear running down his cheek. He was truly sad.....animals have a soul that bleeds too. That was one of her last days there, she couldn't handle that.

Answer 8

it is psychological. we cry to express ourselves and our feelings. dolphins, cats, dogs, elephants, & many other animals cry like humans. it helps us to show dissappointment, anger or excitement. we cry when we are upset because we may not know what else to do. our brains sometimes cant take the strain of some situations so it just does the only thing it can do at the time...cry :( sometimes we cry because we know that our actions would later be regretted (anger) which gives us a while to gather our thoughts...

Answer 9

when we are feeling emotional we cry.for example,reading a TOCHING story always gets me crying and/or when ur happy you cry of TEARS OF JOY.u might have heard the tears of joy from tv shows and its real.

Answer 10

I think it's comunication.
Crying as an emotional reaction is considered by many to be a uniquely human phenomenon, possibly due to humans' advanced self-awareness.
Sorry about I'm not giving you references.