Crying therapy !!

Recently I was watching one of the episodes from Everybody loves Raymond, where Debra in her me time sits and cries out...to get a cathartic feeling....well Ray sure doesn't gets it and makes fun of her, leading to yet another hilarious episode of Everybody Loves Raymond.

It got me thinking..if crying really can be as helpful as proclaimed by a character on a show...and come to think of it, I think I am going to agree with the overworked housewife of the Barone clan.

For someone with repressed emotions and pent-up anger...an outlet in form of crying might actually do good, by way of a vent out session. Instead of taking out the mis-placed emotions (as termed by society) on honest citizens...this mechanism sure can be a controller.

I thought about doing a dig up to see if my supposition had any basis...and not to much surprise I got About 2,420,000 results (0.31 seconds) on Google (what will one do without it).

Turns out biochemist William Frey said something on similar lines and proclaimed this much earlier, with a theory that crying is important to overall health. In his book Crying. The Mystery of Tears (Winston Press, 1985), he explains his research and points out that people feel better after crying because the shedding of tears removes "chemicals that build up as a result of emotional stress." (source:http://control-your-emotions.blogspot.in/2007/10/crying.html)

One study analyzed 140 years of popular articles about crying and found that more than 9 in 10 found tears to be a good way to release pent-up feelings. An international sample of men and women from 30 countries found that most reported feeling relief after a good cry. And about 70 percent of therapists say they believe crying is good for their patients. (source: http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/is-crying-healthy.aspx)

On the contrary...a school of thought is of the opinion..that crying is more or less influenced by our society and general expectations as well. Also...it is said that too much crying can be very counter-active and rather than playing the cathartic role, can actually be damaging and damn the spirit and soul of an individual.

Ohhh..boy..everything said and done...I guess..crying is like everything else in life. In moderation it is a blessing (I mean helpful)..and in excess and in deprivation..quite harmful..

So taking Debra's view..well give a good cry a shot sometime..may be helpful in getting rid of all the pent up emotions that we carry in today's hectic crazy world and kept it locked away in our quest to be prim and proper :-)