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©2025 WEBELOTRAX
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ISSUE 003→
Ebullient Effluence
07.19.2024
I’m ecstatic, so why are my eyes and nose flowing like Niagara Falls?
Tears of joy are a dimorphous emotional reaction; happiness expressed like sadness. Sometimes our brain’s hypothalamus gets a little confused, so grief and joy can both make us wail like a child.
You might also remember shouting aggressively in celebration or nervously laughing when you’re uncomfortable. ”Cute aggression” is a dimorphous reaction towards babies and animals. Our limbic system can’t tell the difference, so it reacts the same way: with big, wet, ugly tears.
Whatever the trigger, your hypothalamus relays an SOS to the Pons, which controls things like breathing, sleeping, facial expressions, and crying. The Pons transmits the distress signal to our lacrimal glands and the salty substance we call tears start flowing.
The nervous system desperately wants to get back to normal, and a good cry helps your body regulate by releasing dopamine and oxytocin.
Some researchers suggest crying reflects our feeling of helplessness in uncontrollable circumstances. It could be an animalistic vocalization, like babies who cry for parental care without producing tears.
Adulthood introduces more reasons to shed a tear; disappointment, grief and shame, or pride, gratitude and love.
A crying spell can start suddenly and come at the worst time, no matter how hard we try to dam the overwhelming ebb of tears.
Next time you want to suck it up, stiff upper lip, consider that no matter how inconvenient, letting the tears flow is a natural and beneficial reaction that helps us survive.
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ISSUE 003...07.19.2024...WRITTEN + COMPILED BY PLUMBUN
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