Emotional tears

How it works

The lacrimal gland sits above the outer corner of each eye. It makes tear fluid all day. Blinking spreads the fluid over the eye, and it drains away through two tiny holes in the inner corner of the eyelids into the nose³. This is why crying makes your nose run.

There are three kinds of tears². Basal tears keep the eye wet and clean. Reflex tears flood the eye when something irritates it, like smoke, wind, or onion. Emotional tears come from feeling: sadness, grief, joy, relief, awe, or pain. All three come from the same gland, but the signal to make emotional tears starts in the brain’s emotional centres rather than in the eye².

The three kinds are not the same fluid. In 1981 the biochemist William Frey compared emotional tears with onion tears¹. Emotional tears held more protein⁴. They are also reported to hold more of some stress-related hormones, including prolactin and ACTH¹. The meaning of this is not settled. One idea is that crying clears stress chemicals from the body. Another is that the extra protein makes the tears thicker so that they run down the cheek slowly and stay visible as a signal⁴.

Newborn babies cry loudly but without tears. The glands are not fully working yet. Tears usually appear at around four to eight weeks of age².

How common it is

Almost everyone can weep. A rare genetic condition, familial dysautonomia, can stop tears during emotional crying¹. How often is another matter. Surveys find that adult women report crying more often than adult men², and that people in richer and freer countries report crying more, not less⁵.

Is it a problem?

No. Crying from emotion is a normal reflex, not a sign of weakness or illness. It does not mean something is wrong with the eyes or the brain. Mention it to a doctor if you cry uncontrollably at things that are not sad or funny, or cannot stop crying for long stretches, since sudden uncontrolled crying can be linked to a neurological condition².

History and culture

Many animals make basal and reflex tears. No other species has been shown to shed tears from emotion². Crocodiles and their relatives can shed tears while they eat⁶. The likely cause is air they hiss out through the sinuses during feeding, not grief⁶. The phrase “crocodile tears” comes from an ancient belief that crocodiles weep while eating their prey⁶.