Why do (some) people cry when very happy?

[Kedas]

Why do (some) people cry when they are very happy?

[5614]

i never cry when im happy, i do when im laughing loads though, occasionally.

[palebluehuh]

Crying seems to not just be a response to sadness; it seems to be a response to intense emotion in general. I know I've cried out of joy more than twice.

[Firedragon52]

Crying seems to not just be a response to sadness; it seems to be a response to intense emotion in general. I know I've cried out of joy more than twice.

So If you don't usually cry, does that mean that you really don't experience intense emotion?

[Guest Evenstar]

Due to a rather severe head injury when I was little, my emotions are sort of messed up. Some emotions don't seem to work at all and others work a little too well. So I easily cry, at times of sadness and when I'm happy.

[5614]

i had tears in my eyes the other day, due to laughter, i can't remember it ever happening again.

 

here's why:

 

i have a bit of a dopey friend who is a bit un-conecntrating sometimes. we were given a new book and the teacher wrote an example of how to fill in the front cover on the board [tom jones 11W2, thats the name/form]

this guy instead of replacing tom jones with his name, just copied the board word for word... it was hillarious, but maybe you had to be there.

 

he also once wrote 'your name' on a text book and copied someone else's name of a test paper! he's really funny when it comes to stupid things like that.

 

[i reveal this person as 5605, he doesnt post much here.]

[palebluehuh]

So If you don't usually cry, does that mean that you really don't experience intense emotion?

 

...Good point. Perhaps some people are more quick to cry than others? I sometimes think my lacrimal ducts are on a hairtrigger. Then again, I've experienced insanely intense emotions, but with not a single tear.

 

Okay, now I'm curious. Anyone know?

[pulkit]

So If you don't usually cry, does that mean that you really don't experience intense emotion?

 

I think it should be understood as that if you cry then you are experiencing intense emotions. If you do not cry, then theres nothing to be said as you are literally giving nothing away. It certainly doesn't mean that you aren't/can't be experiencing extreme emotions. Crying is a physical result of extreme emotion that only a certain fraction of people experience.

[5614]

i think that those who cry easily still only cry at certain things. i personally cannot record crying from laughter ever before, yet i did it the other day [in school, how embarrassing!] i think it was a one off... with in the fraction mentioned by pulkit, only sometimes does it happen. or more likely i would regard myself as outside the "fraction" but it happened as a one off.

[TheBigDino]

i think it might be because when laughing too much the brain sends out too much signal to the body causing you to cry, i don't know. Or it might be because of the abnormal input and output of oxygen and carbon dioxide to cause crying. i don't know about the science in crying so don't take my answer seriously, it was just a guess.

[palebluehuh]

I think it should be understood as that if you cry then you are experiencing intense emotions. If you do not cry, then theres nothing to be said as you are literally giving nothing away. It certainly doesn't mean that you aren't/can't be experiencing extreme emotions. Crying is a physical result of extreme emotion that only a certain fraction of people experience.

 

Another good point. Do you mean that crying is like a coping mechanism for some? I don't normally cry in front of people, but as soon as I'm out of sight, I tend to loose the lacrimal floodgates. It helps relieve the stress of whatever's causing me grief. If crying is indeed a coping mechanism, then it stands to reason that some people use other mechanisms in favor of crying.

 

Makes sense, in a way.

[Firedragon52]

This is kind of strange. Tell me if this happens to any of you too. Everytime I yawn, tears build in my eyes. Is this common?

[pulkit]

This is kind of strange. Tell me if this happens to any of you too. Everytime I yawn, tears build in my eyes. Is this common?

 

I think the reasons behind that have more to do with the way your body is built and less with your mental make up. Thats just a physical irregularity.

 

It helps relieve the stress of whatever's causing me grief. If crying is indeed a coping mechanism, then it stands to reason that some people use other mechanisms in favor of crying.

 

Thats very true. Crying is indeed an excellent coping mechanism. don't know why but it does seem to reduce stress ( thoug it often stresses up people around you ).

[palebluehuh]

All kinds of physical coping mechanisms deal with emotional pain, often very well. At a particularly emotional time in my adolescence, I took to starving myself. The pain from that helped diffuse some of my hurt inside. Another time, I took to cutting intricate patterns in myself with a razor blade. The physical pain from that helped diffuse the emotional pain inside. Different coping mechanisms. Nowadays, I cry. I'm like a big coping-mechanism smorgasbord here...

 

Now, in retrospect, those habits weren't very effective in the long run, but they did help in the short run. However, in consequence of my starving myself, my metabolism is like that of a common crustacean (and thus, I've got a gut) and because of my love of razor blades, I now have a fine pattern of scars on my arm. Let this be a lesson: deal with your problems; don't try to diffuse them like that .

[Firedragon52]

I think the reasons behind that have more to do with the way your body is built and less with your mental make up. Thats just a physical irregularity.

But it IS abnormal to cry when you yawn?

[Duke]

Do you cry or do your eyes just water? If you cry then i dont think that's normal, if your eyes just water then that's fine i guess; i get that sometimes.

[5614]

some people's eyes water a lot in the winter when there's a wind, i dont, but i know a friend who does a lot!

[pulkit]

Calling it an abnormality makes it sound very harsh and severe.

 

It is only one of the irregularities that make every individual different. For eg. my eyes tend to water when i laugh really hard (not crying for happiness just plain old laughing).

[Firedragon52]

Do you cry or do your eyes just water? If you cry then i dont think that's normal, if your eyes just water then that's fine i guess; i get that sometimes.

No, they only water.

[mab]

sometimes too much laughing brings tears.But the other emotional reason for tears is that when we get happiness after lots of suffering ,or struggle then at the moment of happiness the memory of past brings tears.