psychogenic lacrimation

[mellowtigger]

I may need to find a new icon that shows tears.  Once again, this post is not about Ukraine.  They are doing rather well for themselves, though, during the unprovoked invasion of their nation.  There are rumblings that they may even retake Crimea. 

An interesting tweet today had me following some links to news about human tears. 

Want to hear something amazing about crying? Emotional tears have higher protein concentration than irritant tears, which makes them fall down your cheeks more slowly—increasing the chance they’ll be seen and solicit care. In literal ways, your body is built for community.
- Twitter, Benjamin Perry, 2022 September 13

A very old article (from a writer here in the Twin Cites) noted back in 1982 that:

...it bodes ill for societal admonitions like "big boys don't cry" and such comforting words as "now, now, don't cry."
"We should comfort people without telling them to stop crying," Dr. Frey observed. "They do stop crying when they're comforted."
- NY Times, Jane Brody, 1982 August 31

Apparently there are 3 types of human tears.

1. Basal tears for constant eye lubrication.
2. Reflexive tears for removing irritants from the eye.
3. Psychic tears during high emotional states (positive or negative).

It's the psychic tear (psychogenic lacrimation) that is most curious.  They seem chemically designed to promote social bonding.  Fascinating.  Of course, I immediately started searching for correlations between crying and autism.  I couldn't tell there was anything notable.  The same variety of crying propensity as everyone else, it seems.  There is an interesting hint, however, that autistic baby cry vocalizations may be different.  Treating any baby's cries with a social response (holding and transporting the infant for at least 5 minutes), seems to help.  That's probably some useful info for new parents.

Comments

[bitterlawngnome]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaan_of_Troyius

[mellowtigger]

Oh, I should've thought of that scene, but it didn't occur to me. :)