# You're happy, you cry. Makes sense? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-happy-you-cry-makes-sense/37544 "2000-10-19T16:21:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-happy-you-cry-makes-sense/37544/1 "2000-10-19T16:21:28Z")
I’ll try this once again. Didn’t elicit too many responses/too much interest the last time around (actually shed a few tears over that at the time). I know that the primary function of tears is to lubricate the eye. But my question is: Why do people cry when they are happy? Do good news, happy events dessicate the cornea:)? And, for that matter, why do we cry when we’re sad? ---
**Author:** ![ASD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@ASD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASD)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-happy-you-cry-makes-sense/37544/2 "2000-10-19T16:49:46Z")
My guess is that crying is a way for us to relieve stress. The only times I’ve cried due to happiness have been when the happiness was finding out good news about something I had been really worried about. When you spend a few days/weeks overly emotional and scared about something and then find out it’s going to be ok you need to release that pent up emotion and crying is a great way to do it. Of course–that’s mainly psychological and I have no thoughts on the physical processes involved. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-happy-you-cry-makes-sense/37544/3 "2000-10-19T20:15:54Z")
The way I understand it is that sometimes the brain gets a little confused in times of high excitement and emotion. It’s not sure how to interpret the data it’s being given, or how to respond to it. So the brain uses a one-size-fits-all solution: it turns on the waterworks. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-happy-you-cry-makes-sense/37544/4 "2000-10-19T20:52:52Z")
I guess what I’m interested in is… how it all started, when the first hominid cried, what made him/her have such a reaction. There must be a “primordial” physiological reason. Desmond Morris would probably know…🙂 Any chance he’s a lurker? ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-happy-you-cry-makes-sense/37544/5 "2000-10-20T06:12:30Z")
What made the first homonid cry? He saw a vision of the future of his race: pale, withered husks bent over a computer keyboard, madly pounding away unhelpful answers to serious questions while surfing porn in another window… uh… nevermind… ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-happy-you-cry-makes-sense/37544/6 "2000-10-21T15:51:55Z")
After this, my third attempt, wiping the tears from my eyes for I can now barely see the keyboard, I officially give up, naively confident that it is a lack of knowledge, not of interest, that keeps the otherwise faithful Doper community at bay. I am grateful to the few brave souls who gave it a try (admittedly with little success:D) and shall hence pursue the truth by other means, which I have yet to ascertain. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2000, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-happy-you-cry-makes-sense/37544/7 "2000-10-21T23:46:22Z")
ROFL, Astroboy. [http://www.hubwest.com/userpages/hubert/mrscience/crying.html](http://www.hubwest.com/userpages/hubert/mrscience/crying.html) > [@](#): > > why tearing? I came across > only one article–highly speculative–in which the fellow looked at relationships > among crying episodes of adults and found that the only commonality was > help–either requesting or offering it Hmm. Does this help? No, didn’t think so. If you are seriously interested in this (ie willing to shell out $26), you could try [Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears](http://www.sciencenewsbooks.org/scibook/crying.html) by Tom Lutz. I mean, really, **omni-not** , you didn’t look very hard did you? Links to that Tom Lutz book were plastered all over the internet searches I tried. Feel free to purchase it, read it cover to cover, and give us a 2 paragraph summary of the answer to your OP :D. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2000, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-happy-you-cry-makes-sense/37544/8 "2000-10-22T01:58:18Z")
Thanks. Having to work with search engines all day long, I realized that there are a few articles (540,000 hits on Google, among others) on the subject matter, and had noticed that the name of Tom Lutz popped up a good number of times. The answer I’m looking for is probably in Lutz’s book: it’s just that I didn’t really see when I would have the time to go through the 352 pages and thought that maybe some fellow members would have an element or elements of an answer. If I _do_ get to it eventually, I’ll let you know.