{"id":9198,"date":"2023-09-19T13:51:15","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T20:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/?p=9198"},"modified":"2023-09-19T16:31:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T23:31:23","slug":"why-you-should-try-crying-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/why-you-should-try-crying-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to relieve stress ASAP? Bring on the water works"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In some cultures<\/a>, like in Japan, crying may be looked down upon as a weakness. However, crying could very well be cathartic, and has even been proven as a way to relieve stress. But what happens when, culturally, you\u2019re taught not to cry? That\u2019s where crying therapist Hidefumi Yoshida comes in. The self-proclaimed \u201cTears Teacher<\/a>\u201d is here to help you cry and explains why it\u2019s important and healthy to shed some tears. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A literal sob story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy job is to make people cry and help them relieve stress,\u201d says Yoshida, who describes himself as a \u201ctears teacher\u201d or \u201ccrying therapist.\u201d For the past 11 years, Yoshida has traveled across Japan to teach people to cry. He has since made about 60,000 people cry (and counting).

Working as a high school teacher, he encountered students who would get upset but not cry and would continually come to him for guidance, while the students who would get upset and cry would not return. He noticed the pattern of how crying was cathartic for those students who let out their emotions. He began hosting crying events and he once had an owner of a company attend and then hire him to make his employees cry. Gradually, the popularity of his crying conferences grew and he switched careers, becoming a \u201cTears Teacher\u201d and the subject of a 2020 11-minute documentary<\/a> with the same name.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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The culture of crying<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Studies have found that in East-Asian cultures, such as Japanese, suppressing one’s emotions is more common<\/a> than other cultures. The cultural differences between countries and how open they are to crying is more about differences in freedom of expression versus differences in levels of distress. In Japan, Yoshida, notes, a Stress Check Program <\/a>was established by the Japanese government in 2015. This law requires businesses with more than 50 employees to perform stress checks at the workplace for their employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also established the “Health Management Excellent Corporation Certification System” in 2016, he adds. “Health management” is one of the management strategies for the sustainable growth of a company, [which includes a focus on mental health].\u201d Last year, Yoshida was invited to about 80 companies to hold crying seminars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to relieve stress? Join the crying club<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are five methods I use to make people cry,\u201d Yoshida says. \u201cThe first is to ask the clients to watch multiple crying videos for about 3 minutes. The second is to make the clients cry by reading a [sad] picture book. Third, I read a letter aloud that makes the clients cry. Fourth, I show a picture and have the clients cry by imagining the picture. Fifth, we ask the clients to create and individually present stories that make them cry.\u201d He now has a school that trains crying therapists. Today, there are about 300 crying therapists in Japan, each of them, he notes, has their own \u201ccrying clubs\u201d throughout the country.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s best to cry every day, Yoshida says. \u201cBut even at a pace of about once a week, people can learn to lead a stress-free life if they shed tears. If people can shed a single tear, the stress-relieving effects<\/a> last a week.\u201d He proved this with his team who conducted an experiment by placing subjects under stress and measuring cortisol levels before and after crying. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst, we asked the subject to do something stressful, like untie loose yarn or transfer soybeans in a small plate to another plate using chopsticks. When stressed, saliva secretes a stress hormone substance called cortisol. The level of cortisol<\/a> detected during this task was very high. After they cried, the number went down and the result was that the rise in cortisol was suppressed for a week,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional benefits of crying <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yoshida explains that when people cry, their parasympathetic nervous system takes over and puts them in a more relaxed state. On the other hand, when the sympathetic system is dominating it promotes tension and excitement. \u201cThe sympathetic [nervous system] is the nerve that works when the body is moving, tense or under stress. The parasympathetic [nervous system], on the other hand, works to restore strength when sleeping or relaxing,\u201d he explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not all crying is equal. The harder you cry, he says, the more beneficial. \u201cThe stress relief that you get is not the tears that flow (like when chopping up onions) but the ones that flow when you are sad or emotional,\u201d Yoshida says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShedding tears not only relieves stress, but also boosts immunity<\/a>,\u201d he adds. \u201cWhen crying, the lymphocytes that affect immunity are activated, and the virus that causes disease is repelled from inside the body,\u201d he notes. Crying strengthens the immune system<\/a> and helps to protect the body from viruses and infectious diseases. \u201cI have a client who has been cured of depression,\u201d Yoshida says. \u201cStress is a root of illness. Crying relieves stress and makes you less likely to get sick.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Murad, and are for informational purposes only, even if the advice of physicians and medical practitioners are included. This article is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and should not be considered specific medical advice.\u202f<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References for this information<\/strong>:
Frontiers in Psychology, <\/a><\/em>2020, volume 11<\/a>
Sage Publications Website, <\/a><\/em>Culture and Crying<\/a>
Journal of Occupational Health<\/em>, 2016, volume 58, issue 1<\/a>
Health Psychology<\/em>, 2012, volume 31, issue 5, pages 640-649<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In some cultures, like in Japan, crying may be looked down upon as a weakness. However, crying could very well be cathartic, and has even been proven as a way to relieve stress. But what happens when, culturally, you\u2019re taught not to cry? That\u2019s where crying therapist Hidefumi Yoshida comes in. The self-proclaimed \u201cTears Teacher\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":9346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mind"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1752784924:21"],"_edit_last":["21"],"adobe_analytics_repeatable":["a:1:{i:0;a:2:{s:4:\"name\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"value\";s:0:\"\";}}"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["4"],"show_featured_image":["1"],"_show_featured_image":["field_609ee1cf1ce13"],"primary_category":["2"],"_primary_category":["field_608c33bdd26d5"],"mobile_image":[""],"_mobile_image":["field_60bf7692abe28"],"_post_views_count":["field_6107dfafd6a27"],"sidebar_products_use_global_default":["0"],"_sidebar_products_use_global_default":["field_63a349a11086a"],"sidebar_products_title":["Related Products"],"_sidebar_products_title":["field_6408d62123449"],"sidebar_products_items":[""],"_sidebar_products_items":["field_63a349a110878"],"sidebar_products":[""],"_sidebar_products":["field_63a349a0dadad"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["2"],"_yoast_wpseo_title":["%%title%% %%page%% %%sep%% Murad"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["\"Crying therapist\" Hidefumi Yoshida has traveled across Japan to teach around 60,000 people cry (and counting)\u2014and the benefits are shocking."],"_thumbnail_id":["9346"],"post_views_count":["3350"]},"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":{"show_featured_image":true,"primary_category":{"term_id":2,"name":"Mind","slug":"mind","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":76,"filter":"raw"},"mobile_image":false,"sidebar_products":{"use_global_default":false,"title":"Related Products","items":""},"post_views_count":"3350"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9198"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9450,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9198\/revisions\/9450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/9346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}