WORD OF THE WEEK

Lacrimation – noun – the secretion of tears especially when abnormal or excessive

Derived from the Latin words, lacrimal and lacrimal meaning weep and tear respectively.

Numerous animals are capable of crying, but did you know that humans are the only ones known to do it as an emotional expression/reaction? It’s said that emotional tears are quite unique and that they are composed of some pretty complex substances including manganese, prolactin, and even corticotropin, a stress hormone. Our tears even excrete leucine-enkephalin, an amino peptide, and way more importantly, an efficient, self-produced painkiller. Crying actually releases that sweet, sweet combo of oxytocin and endorphins if you can believe it.

In fact, emotional tears are known to be thicker and more protein-rich than reflex tears, making them stand out to anyone around us. Now why in the world would those slick suckers want to do that? Many people find it incredibly embarrassing to cry in front of others. Strangers, friends, or family, it is often socially cited as some kind of weakness or fault when a grown adult suddenly bursts into tears. You can’t talk like a reasonable, mature person when you’re crying with snot and tears running down your face, I suppose. But sometimes words just cannot express the depths of the human experience. Still, why is it that we’re called crybabies when we use our most potent form of emotional release? And why do crybabies even get such a rap in the first place? More often than not they’re looked at like they just can’t keep their mood in check. And yet this natural lubrication for emotional regulation appears to be the most foolproof way for anyone to temper all those pesky feelings swimming within us.

It should be no surprise that in an emotionally unregulated world, men are known to cry five times less than the average woman. Predictably, the amount of tears spilled in childhood is actually the same, and yet remarkably, once boys hit adolescence, they are often discouraged from shedding an emotional tear. But why is showing the world we are in distress and attempting to govern our own bodies seen as a negative thing?

Maybe we all could use just a little more lacrimation in our lives.