Crying is a natural instinct. A human response to a variety of situations and a form of communication in the first stage of life.
Babies cry to express a need: hunger, pain, sleep, tiredness… As we grow, the reasons why we cry change and crying becomes a response to emotions as different as sadness, joy or anger.
When crying is uncontrollable it can affect us in different areas. In this Psychology-Online article we teach you some guidelines on how to stop crying when that natural response escapes your control.
I can’t stop crying, is this normal?
Crying is a physiological response to the processing of emotions that produce strong mental activation. In general, it is a natural and adaptive response that is usually useful in terms of that allows us to express emotions like sadness or frustration. Therefore, we would say that crying is good and healthy. However, when crying becomes constant or uncontrollable, it is very annoying for those who suffer from it. To what extent is it considered normal to cry non-stop?
As with many other issues, crying is considered normal until it begins to interfere with the normal development of life. Although there are stages of our lives in which it is considered normal for crying to occur for a longer period, such as when there is a loss (death of someone close, separation, etc.). In the following article you will find information about the Grief processes in the event of Significant Losses
Why do I constantly feel like crying?
The causes of crying are emotional tension and intensitywhich can occur for different reasons:
Stressful events and losses
As we have seen, crying constantly can be explained as a response to a loss of someone or something in our lives or situations of stress and big changes.
Mood disorders
When you don’t know the reason why you cry and yet you can’t stop doing it, it is likely that this crying is explained by the existence of a depressive disorder. It is one of the ways to differentiate sadness from depression. Here you will find more information about it. What is certain is that the constant and continued desire to cry over time is due to the fact that there is latent discomfort.
Personality traits
Another reason for crying constantly is associated with certain personality traits. For example, people who score high in neuroticism are more predisposed to crying, as well as expressing other emotions. In this article you can see.
Hormonal factors
Internal factors and processes also intervene in the probability of crying appearing. Hormonal changes can make us temporarily more sensitive to emotions, which would explain more intense responses to those emotions, such as crying.
How to stop crying about everything
Our emotions are a product of the interpretation we make of reality, which is why on many occasions the intensity of the emotions is disproportionate to the events.
1. Identify the cause
If you have been feeling more sensitive and vulnerable to events for a while and you notice that you cry for things that you didn’t do before, it is necessary to look to see if something is wrong. It may be the effect of some medication you are taking, hormonal changes, unresolved problems or that you are suffering from undiagnosed depression.
2. Address the cause
Once you identify the reason(s) that lead you to constant crying, it is time to act.
- For medical problems consult with your doctor.
- If the problems are psychological, it is recommended go to therapy. Depression needs effective treatment to be overcome. It is the one that has demonstrated the greatest effectiveness in the treatment of depressive disorders. Within this intervention, the cognitive part focuses on modifying the thoughts that make you interpret events in an unrealistic and maladaptive way, and changing them for more realistic ones. This will allow the emotions you experience to be more in line with what is happening to you. Likewise, an erroneous belief system makes your interpretation of events unrealistic, therefore reviewing and adapting it is necessary for healthy emotional expression.
How to act when you can’t control crying
How to control crying? You can follow these guidelines to calm yourself:
3. Question thoughts
Identify the negative thoughts that appear and subject them to a reality test. It is the basis of cognitive restructuring.
4. Use breathing techniques
Use diphragmatic or abdominal breathing to divert your attention from negative thoughts and focus on breathing. Here you will see them explained step by step.
5. Write
Write what you are feeling. It will help you better manage your emotions and see them from another perspective. Plus, it’s a good task for you.
6. Smile
Try to adopt positions that are incompatible with crying to, as much as possible, break the crying cycle.
7. Use relaxation techniques
Try to relax using some relaxation techniques and/or visualizations. You’ll find a visualization at the end of this article.
8. Get distracted
Distract yourself from your thoughts. Focus your attention on an object or landscape, play upbeat music, or read a happy story.
How to stop crying for someone
Crying for someone usually means a loss, which implies a grieving process, whether this loss is due to a romantic breakup or death. Grief is a natural and necessary process to overcome loss or learn to live without the person you lose.
How to stop crying for love? If you cry because of one, these recommendations can help you:
9. Apply zero contact
Eliminate all possible contact with that person. Social networks, instant messaging, phone calls. This avoids prolonging unnecessary suffering.
10. Fill your time
Occupy your time. Keeping yourself busy will make it easier to distract yourself from the sadness of the loss. Think about activities that you want to do, plan them and reward yourself when you have done them.
11. Lean on loved ones
Spend time with friends and family. Social relationships prevent you from isolating yourself and improve your mood.
12. Focus on the reasons for the breakup
Remember everything you didn’t like about that person. After a breakup we have a biased memory of our ex-partner, we tend to remember what we liked and forget what tormented us.
13. Take care of yourself
Take some time to focus on yourself. Many times we make the mistake of looking for a new relationship after a breakup. But if you are not prepared, that new relationship will probably fail. That is why it is important that you take some time for yourself and conclude what you want and what you don’t want from a new relationship before starting it.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to How to stop cryingwe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Barragán, A. (2016) How to control any emotion step by step. Amazon.
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