Does anyone know what lachrymology is? If you look it up on the internet, you get a bunch of Tool band related sites. I was wondering if anyone knows if the study of crying as a source of healing really exists…
The only reference I have seen (other than Tool’s fictional J. Vincent) is a theory that healthy emotional development can’t take place without pain. Google for lachrymology and Nann.
This piqued my interest. Of course, my massive ol’ Stedman’s medical dictionary didn’t have “lachrymology” or “lacrimology,” but a Google on the latter turned up the use of the term in usage related to lacrimation (tear film production) for 24 hits. Stedman’s Ophthalmology didn’t come up with anything, nor did the online dictionaries I use frequently (medical and general).
A search on “lachrymology -tool” turned up 231 hits, none of which I considered to be very credible. However, I did find one report by Matt Nand crediting Tool as the “only definite source,” with THEIR source being Ronald P. Vincent in his book. The report goes on to state that there is no evidence that he or his book actually exist.
On the whole, I would say that the concept has been certainly bandied about in a few groups/message boards, but it’s nowhere near as prevalent as some of the other psychological concepts floating around the Net.
Thanks for the fun project! 