- [Narrator] Crybaby locks eight young women
in a house for one week.
One million yen, or about 5,000 pounds,
goes to the girl who can cry the most tears in that week.
- Crying is a shared emotional experience,
something we all do.
- So why was it once so maligned
that it was actually called emotional incontinence?
(upbeat music)
Yep, according to Thomas Dixon writing for Aeon,
emotional incontinence is a term
that 19th century psychologists used
when describing what they deemed
an uncouth public act.
- [Male] You see, crying wasn't always
an acceptable expression of the inner state.
It was seen as a sign of weakness and vulnerability,
on par with urinating or defecating in public.
- [Female] But today, even grown men in suits
can turn on the waterworks.
Well, as long as it's related to sports or country.
Take Boris Johnson, the mayor of London,
who recalled his quote,
"Hot tears of patriotic pride," unquote,
at the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics.
- [Male] We produce 10 ounces of tears a day.
And the majority of it serves to lubricate the eyes
and keep them dust- and debris-free.
- [Female] So what's the purpose of sobbing?
Is it just to accompany the contorted faces
of sorrow, anger, and joy?
- [Male] One clue is that emotional tears
have different molecular content
than basic maintenance tears,
called basal and reflex tears.
- [Female] Basal tears have three different layers
to keep dirt and debris in check,
while reflex tears spring forth
when the eye is injured,
flushing away the offending substance
and offering up antibodies
in case any microorganism breached the periphery.
- [Male] But emotional tears contain higher levels
of the stress hormone cortisol, and enkephalin,
an endorphin and natural painkiller, all of which points to
the mood-stabilizing effects of weeping.
- [Female] Consider the 2008 research
of University of South Florida psychologists,
who looked at 3,000 crying-related studies,
and found that although emotional tears
caused increased heart rate and sweating,
the calming effects like slow breathing
lasted longer than the negative ones.
- [Male] Now, this was the case
in only those who reported improvements
in their mood following a bout of crying,
which was the majority of respondents.
However, 1/3 of the survey participants
reported no improvement in mood,
and 1/10 felt worse after crying.
- [Female] The researchers found that those whose moods
were enhanced after bawling their eyes out
had received emotional support from others,
which could be a key to the social significance of crying.
- [Male] Dutch psychologist Ad Vingerhoets
posits that tears may just be a way of socially signaling.
He and psychiatrist John Bowlby looked
to early childhood bonds between mother and child,
in which crying plays a major role.
- [Female] Vingerhoets's take is that early humans' use
of emotional tears was a far less risky signal than,
say, a scream, to communicate distress
without raising the hackles of any nearby predators.
- [Male] To support this, he points
to the enlarged visual cortex in humans,
a structure that allows us to read subtle signaling
in the face, whether it's a micro-expression,
blushing, or tears.
- [Female] Moreover,
when Vingerhoet showed study participants
a Hollywood tearjerker in his lab,
they reported feeling better after a cry,
but only if they were with a friend.
When they viewed the tearjerker alone,
participants mostly reported no improvement in mood at all.
Perhaps this is further evidence
of the social function of crying.
- [Male] Something to think about
the next time you have an ocular ejaculation.
Hey, if you enjoyed this video,
be sure to check out these three videos as well.
- [Female] And don't forget to visit us
at stufftoblowyourmind.com.
- [Male] Of course there's crying in outer space,
but who knew it was such an otherworldly experience?
- [Female] Luckily for us,
International Space Station commander
Chris Hadfield breaks it all down for us
in this video.
- Have you ever started to cry,
and you got a lump in your throat?
First, don't be ashamed.
We all cry.
- When it comes to babies crying,
scientists don't entirely agree
whether their facial expressions match
whatever kind of emotion is going on inside of them.
(chime)