Crying is a better medicine

It was Charlie Chaplin who once said, “I always like walking in the rain, cause no one can see me cry!”
That means men do cry but they do not like to accept or show that they do!

The image of the Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma crying after their defeat on national Television and being consoled by the Prime Minister literally split the social media! Of course most had sympathy and concern for the Indian Cricket Team since they actually did a great job till the end. But some had an opinion based on the fact that we saw a grown up men crying on national TV!
While many were of the view that it is just natural and human to give in to your emotions, there were also those who opined that how can you manage such an important and complex job if you cannot control your emotions!?

All this made me wonder whether as a Guy or Man should I cry openly when I want or I must hide my emotions all the time and never ever cry in public or in the open! The only time I have seen my father cry was when he lost his mother and the impact was so deep that even though I was not very old, I do remember that day as clear as yesterday! That one act made me realize that beneath his tough army exterior is a man who loved his mother so much! Of course now I have seen him cry a lot when we lost my mother; human and humane is what I happily accept.

I have seen people telling sons not to cry even when his parents pass away since he has to appear strong! If you cannot even shed a tear to your own Mother or Father then what is the whole point of being Human? I cried like a baby when I lost my mother in between doing all the work which had to be done like cremation and prayers and cooking food for about a hundred people. Yes! It was my wife and me
who did that! Since my mother used to love my cooking and this was my final gift to her...

Crying is one of the basic emotions which makes us human and gives us a position which is right there up in the ecological tree. It is also understood that we can laugh at anyone or anything and without any feeling but we do cry only for things or people we care about. So in that sense crying is an emotion which gives us a beautiful insight on our true emotions.

The myth that so called macho men do not cry is of course suspect! The most macho men of the bollywood family of the Deols, which includes the original he man and macho man Dharmendra and Sunny Deol who are known for their body and tough nature apparently cry or let out their emotions almost every other day!

So the next time you want to prove your machismo by not crying, you are going in the wrong direction!
Medically also it has been found that crying is beneficial to the health and body as well! While laughing is also healthy, crying is in fact more healthy!

Lets look at some of the benefits of crying:
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Regulation of emotion, soothing mind and reducing the distress and stress.
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Interpersonal or social benefit
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Relieves pain by releasing oxytocin and endorphins
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Enhances mood
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Releases toxins and Relieves Stress
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Aids in sleep
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The tears have an antibacterial called Lysozyme which gives local protection
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Crying also relieves headache and stress and also makes us calm and relaxed.

So next time you want to let out your emotions just cry your heart out irrespective of your gender and do not worry about your masculinity which will be safe! Of course like the famous song inspired by the Chaplin quote goes; "No one can see your tears, no one can feel your pain, no one can your tears, when you are crying in the rain!"

But that does not mean you wait for a rainy day to cry! You can do it for medical reasons anytime you feel like and drive your blues away with the tears!

Since crying is a better medicine!...

The sketch is of Harihar Jethalal Jariwala popularly known as Sanjeev Kumar who has made us laugh and cry with this performances!

Dr. Sriram Nathan