Happy Crying: What Tears of Happiness May Mean

Is It Normal to Cry When You’re Happy?

Crying is often associated with sadness and negative emotions, but it can also be a healthy part of expressing joy and happiness. It’s completely normal to cry when you’re happy. Interestingly enough, a survey of more than 3,500 adults from 19 countries found 68% of participants reported that a happy or positive event caused them to be moved to happy tears at least once a month.¹

Crying when you’re happy is a healthy and natural response to intense emotions. Happy crying can be a sign of relief, appreciation, connection, and a healthy emotional life. If you find yourself crying from happiness, it’s important to take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate your emotions. Embrace the tears and know that it’s completely normal to feel and express joy through a happy cry.

Seven Reasons Why You Cry When You’re Happy

Crying when you are happy may seem counterintuitive, but it is actually a normal reaction to feeling overwhelming joy. Happy crying can be a way of expressing gratitude, releasing stress, and expressing appreciation for the people in your life.

Research shows that people who are highly empathic are more prone to happy crying.² Another study found that American women cry 3.5 times each month, while American men cry around 1.9 times each month.³ Although some people may feel uncomfortable talking about it, understanding the reasons why people cry when they are happy can help to normalize the experience.

Here are seven reasons why we cry when we’re happy:

1. You’re Repressing Emotions

Happy crying may signify repressed emotions like stress, grief, or depression. Emotions like repressed sadness are a valid and natural response to difficult and challenging emotions. Happy crying may be the result of repressed emotions that have been buried for a long time. This can be caused by past traumatic events, stressful life experiences, or a difficult childhood. Traumatic experiences in childhood can cause repressed anger. Research shows that expressing your true emotions is crucial to physical health, mental health, and general well-being.⁴

2. It Helps Create Emotional Intimacy & Vulnerability

Happy crying is an often-overlooked emotion that can be beneficial in creating emotional intimacy and vulnerability. Crying from happiness is a powerful emotion that can help people connect on a deeper level and form a strong bond.

When two people are happy and crying together, it can be a sign of a deep connection between them. Happy crying can help people grow closer together when they are sharing a joyful moment. A happy cry allows people to express their emotions in a way that is more meaningful than just words. It can be a sign of trust and acceptance, and it can help to bridge gaps that may exist between two people.

When someone is happy crying, it can be an incredibly powerful tool for creating emotional intimacy and vulnerability. You can express joy and happiness through a happy cry, and it can help to foster a deep connection between you and your partner. In fact, tears of happiness can be a sign of a healthy relationship with your partner, as it can help create a sense of openness and vulnerability.

3. It Helps in Managing Your Emotions

Happy crying can aid in emotional regulation. Crying provides a physical and emotional release for expelling emotions in a more tangible way than just by simply expressing emotions through words. Happy crying can help people feel connected to their feelings, allowing them to process and move through them in a healthy way.

Happy crying can be a beneficial way to manage emotions as it allows you to feel more positive emotions than just sadness or pain. It can help people feel connected to their feelings, reduce stress and anxiety, and practice self-care. When engaging in happy crying, you may choose to find a safe and comfortable space to cry in and to allow yourself to feel whatever emotions come up without judgment. It can also be helpful to take a few deep breaths and focus on the feeling of release and relief that comes with it.

4. It Helps You Communicate with Others

Happy crying is often seen in times of celebration, such as weddings or births. It is a way of expressing the joy of the moment and letting others know that you are truly happy. It can also be used to show appreciation or gratitude to someone who has done something special for you.

Although it can be difficult to express our emotions through tears, happy crying can help us communicate in a more meaningful way. It is a way of expressing our innermost feelings and allowing others to understand us better. The next time you are feeling overwhelmed with emotion, don’t be afraid to let it out and shed some happy tears.

5. You Feel Emotionally Out of Control

Happy crying can leave us feeling out of control as it can take us by surprise. It’s a combination of happiness and sadness that often comes with strong emotions such as joy, relief, or nostalgia. It can be difficult to suppress the urge to cry and can leave us feeling overwhelmed and vulnerable as we feel like we are experiencing emotional dysregulation. It can be hard to explain why we are crying, and there can be a sense of embarrassment about it.

While happy crying is a powerful emotion that can make us feel out of control, it is also a reminder of the beauty and fragility of life and can help us to appreciate our experiences and the people in our lives.

6. You’re Feeling Relieved

Happy crying is a way of releasing built-up tension and emotion. When we feel relieved, it’s often because a stressful situation has been resolved or a problem has been solved. This can be a huge relief and can create a sense of joy and elation. To express this, our bodies may respond by releasing a flood of tears.

Crying from happiness is a reminder that joy can come from the most unexpected places and that it’s okay to let our emotions out when we feel relieved. If something has been a source of stress or anxiety for a long time, the feeling of finally being able to let it go can be so overwhelming that you can’t help but cry. Happy crying is a sign that you’re finally feeling a sense of peace and relief.

7. You’re Feeling Vulnerable

You might experience a happy cry because you’re feeling vulnerable. When you’re feeling strong emotions, it can be difficult to open up and express them. Crying is a way to release all of those feelings and let them out. Tears of happiness, also known as “tears of joy,” happen when someone feels a deep sense of emotional vulnerability.

Ultimately, happy tears can be a sign of emotional vulnerability, but they can also be a sign of strength and resilience. By allowing ourselves to cry, we can release our emotions and express our gratitude while also strengthening our emotional resilience.

Benefits of Happy Crying

People often ask, “Is crying good for you?” Crying is often seen as an indicator of sadness or grief, but there is another side to it. Happy crying is a unique form of emotional release that can bring a range of benefits to both your physical and mental health. When somebody is so overwhelmed by happiness that they tear up or cry, it’s called a “dimorphous expression”. By allowing yourself to experience the full range of emotions, you can use happy crying as a tool to boost your mood, reduce stress, and even improve relationships.

Why do we cry? Tears are a part of the human experience. We cry when we’re sad, when we’re angry, when we’re scared, and when we’re overwhelmed with emotion. Our brains play a role as the amygdala is the center for emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation. And our hypothalamus acts as your body’s smart control coordinating center and plays a role in managing emotions. What are the biological reasons for crying? According to researchers, shedding emotions through crying releases hormones like oxytocin and endorphins. They hypothesize that tearful crying facilitates social connections.^{5, 6}

Benefits of crying may include:

• It can help reduce stress: Crying is an important part of the human experience and can be a good stress management option when overwhelmed. By allowing ourselves to cry, we can process our emotions, communicate our needs, and take action to make positive changes.
• It may improve sleep: Can crying help a person feel better if done before bed? Tears of joy can help release certain hormones and chemicals that can make it easier to relax and fall asleep.
• It boosts our immune system: The act of crying has also been found to help boost our immune system. As the body releases stress hormones, the immune system is stimulated, creating a stronger defense against illnesses such as colds and flu.
• It can help to process emotions: Crying can be a way of processing and expressing intense emotions, such as grief and anger. When we cry, we are allowing ourselves to let go of these emotions. As we reduce the intensity of the emotion, it can allow us to gain a better understanding of why we are feeling the way we do.
•  It is a form of self-care: Allowing ourselves to cry can be an effective way of showing compassion and can help us to feel less alone and to process our emotions. It can also help us to reconnect with our emotions, and to take the time for self-care.
•  It releases stress hormones: Research shows that crying is an effective self-soothing mechanism as it activates the parasympathetic nervous system that helps your body rest and digest. Shedding emotions through crying releases hormones like oxytocin and endorphins. These feel-good hormones help to reduce stress and anxiety and can also reduce symptoms of depression, improve our mood, and ease physical and emotional pain.⁶

When to Seek Professional Help

If you are crying uncontrollably, even when happy, it could indicate an underlying mental health condition such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or bipolar disorder. It can also indicate you struggle to cope with a traumatic event or overwhelming stressor. Professional support is often helpful. Consider finding a therapist, as you may be experiencing depression or another mental health condition. In this case, therapy can be beneficial. There are also many online therapy options available for people who prefer that.

Therapy options may include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT focuses on identifying and changing negative thinking patterns and behaviors.
• Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT): MBCT helps you become more aware of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This type of therapy can provide you with the skills necessary to better manage emotions and stay present in the moment.
• Narrative therapy: Narrative therapy can help you identify your strengths and celebrate your successes.
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): DBT can help with emotional regulation.
• Art, music, or dance therapy: Each approach promotes the cathartic expression of emotions through movement and art.
• Psychotropic medication: If you are so easily moved to tears that it causes you embarrassment or stress, you might consider speaking with your doctor or a psychiatrist to see if an antidepressant may be helpful in leveling out your emotions.
• A wellness check-up with your doctor: Sometimes, tearfulness comes during times of hormonal changes, such as during adolescence, pregnancy, or menopause. Having your hormones and thyroid functioning checked can be a good way to rule out any medical causation for increased happy crying.

In My Experience

I’ve experienced happy crying somewhat frequently in my own life and witnessed my clients happy cry. Happy crying is an expression of emotion that can provide many physical and psychological benefits. It is a form of catharsis that can help us connect with our emotions and cope with life’s challenges. Tears of joy can be a sign of relief, gratitude, and joy and can lead to a deeper sense of well-being. By allowing ourselves to cry, we can gain insight into our emotions and open up to greater levels of happiness and contentment. Crying is a natural part of the human experience, and tears of happiness can be a powerful reminder of the joy and beauty of life.