So, it’s past midnight already, a sad song is playing in the background and there you are, enveloped in a storm of emotions, tears streaming down your face like an unyielding rainfall, as cherished memories of you and your former partner resurface. In this heart-wrenching moment, you get a mail regarding your selection into your dream college. You rush to your mom and break the news of your selection into the university. Amidst this extraordinary moment, where laughter and elation intertwine, you find yourself and your mom captivated by the unexpected power of your in-built shower system. It’s as if every droplet of water falling upon your skin becomes a testament to the overwhelming bliss that fills your heart.
But amidst this poignant scene, an unexpected question arises: what connection does your state-of-the-art shower system hold with these raw and overwhelming emotions?
Types of Tears :
The human body produces three types of tears: basal, reflexive, and psychic. All of these are secreted by the lacrimal gland, located just above the eye. The lacrimal system receives messages from both the autonomic nervous system and the frontal lobe of the brain, triggering the production of tears.
•Basal tears are constantly secreted, used to protect and lubricate the cornea.
•Reflex tears only occur when an irritant like dust or dirt (or chopping onions) causes a response to flush it out.
•Psychic tears are quite different. They are produced as a result of strong emotional responses such as stress, joy, anger, sadness, and of course, physical pain.
These tears contain mucus so they can spread evenly across the surface of your eyes. Plus, that mucus contains antibodies and special proteins for resistance to infection. Oxygen and nutrients are also transported to the surface cells of your eyes by tears since there aren’t blood vessels on your eyes. While all tears contain a mixture of lipids, metabolites, electrolytes, and enzymes, the actual composition of tears vary, depending on what caused them. Psychic tears contain additional proteins and hormones that are absent from other kinds of tears. Leucine enkephalin, a natural painkiller released when the body is under stress, is found in psychic tears, helping to regulate the body back to homeostasis. It’s also why people might feel better after crying.
But how does your in-built shower-system link to these emotions?
Well, there is an area of your brain specifically to deal with your emotions, called the limbic system (specifically the part of it called the hypothalamus), which is hard-wired into your autonomic nervous system (that’s the part you don’t have any control over). This system, via a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, has a degree of control over the lacrimal ‘tear’ system; and it is this tiny molecule which then stimulates tear production. So in short, your emotional reaction to the break-up triggers your nervous system, which in turn, orders your tear-producing system to activate.
Now the interesting thing about crying is that it doesn’t just make your face wet, or your non-waterproof mascara become a form of combatant face paint. It in fact has a whole host of other effects; your heart rate increases, you sweat, your breathing slows and you can get a lump in your throat – known as the globus sensation. This all occurs as a result of your sympathetic nervous system (that’s your ‘fight or flight’ system) activating in response to your break-up situation and any psychic tear-producing cause for that matter.
What is the point of them though? Is it as simple as an expression in response to a stimulus, as some suggest, or a more complex primal call out – a form of non-verbal communication to elicit help and support from those around you in your time of need? There are some psychologists who believe you feel better after a cry because of this social input, solidifying of relationships with those sharing in the experience, and collaborative helplessness.
So the next time you find your eyes shedding the shower of grief or joy, you exactly know the science behind it.
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