Why do I feel worse after crying?

Depression is a horrible thing... sometimes... you have to be at your worst before you’re at your best...

The reason could be as simple as dehydration and fatigue. Make sure you drink a lot of water after a good crying session. A power nap might help too. Crying is therapeutic! It is the body's way of handling emotional stress, so don't hold back those tears! This is from WebMD: Research is backing up that theory. Studies of the various kinds of tears have found that emotional tears contain higher levels of stress hormones than do basal (aka lubricating) or reflex tears (the ones that form when you get something in your eye). Emotional tears also contain more mood-regulating manganese than the other types. Stress "tightens muscles and heightens tension, so when you cry you release some of that," Sideroff says. "[Crying] activates the parasympathetic nervous system and restores the body to a state of balance."

I (male) often feel worse after crying due to the fact that there is such a cultural pressure for me to man up and not show my emotions and so in the event that I do even to myself quietly I feel an innate sense of wrongness with this and it makes me feel much worse for being a bad man when we're meant to be stoic, and emotionless, never afraid. The thing is though that just isn't me and sometimes I struggle with accepting that. Mileage for obvious reasons varies with everyone but that is my personal experience and how I describe this phenomenon

I don't know the science behind crying, but I find that when I cry sometimes the tears bring up other issues that I might need to cry over that I didn't even realize. If that is the same situation for you, perhaps you are dealing with new issues that have come up. If so, be patient and gentle with yourself and let yourself feel those feels. Maybe you need support after a cry..... I tend to text a friend that I trust or call my girlfriend if I am far away. Maybe its a sign that theres something deeper and you need to talk to a professional..... or Maybe you just need chocolate or nice music or a funny tv show. Whatever it is be gentle and listen to what you need

In my experience, I'd feel terrible after crying when I dread how the situation at hand hasn't solved itself. If I was crying out of missing someone, or over a situation that has already happened and cannot be changed, I would usually feel better since the crying felt more like the closing scene to the problem - a mere act of releasing my pent up sadness or frustration about the past. But if it's about stress or some problem that is still manifesting, then I'd usually feel horrible because even after letting out my emotions, my first unanswerable thought would be, "what now?" Usually in these cases, self-care plays an enormous role in lifting my spirits. I'd take another bath and use really nice smelling soap, change into comfier clothes, make myself a cup of tea, put some slow gentle music. It's these small things that act as a routine to show how you respect yourself, and ultimately when you do things that comfort you, it's hard not to feel better. A lot of times though, the best cure is still to talk to someone you trust. In these cases, I usually seek out for my mother. :) Wishing you all the love. Do take care.

I can think of two possible reasons. The one is that I think people sometimes try to keep things together and just cope and don't admit to themselves how bad they are feeling or give themselves a chance to relax and give in to their feelings. So once you do that and start crying, it's like you open that door and you allow yourself to feel and experience your feelings. Then afterwards, that door will not close immediately. There will be a time of feeling vulnerable and emotional and that is normal. The second reason is that crying can be a very intense experience for the body. It's both emotionally and physically exhausting to go through it. So part of the feeling bad afterwards might be because you are very tired and rightly so. The best thing to do is to pay extra attention to self care. Make yourself safe, create a safe space for yourself and surround yourself with comforting things until you find your feet again. Crying is a brave thing to do. Even if it's also hard. Don't let that stop you. And remember to be good to yourself afterwards.

Hmm. It may be because crying has opened the gate to other, deeper feelings of sadness. Or, it may be because you are rejecting the reality you are experiencing and wishing those feelings would go away. Do either of these sound possible? If so, I would practice leaning into those heavy, hard feelings. It’s the worst thing in the world, I know, but if you can continually let some of those heavy feelings out... you will, in time, feel some relief. It may also help to talk to your inner child. For me, I know that I need to talk to my inner child when I’m feeling extremely emotional and unable to control my feelings. I sit down and I close my eyes and I try to talk to her. I say things like, “What do you need to tell me?” “What do you need me to know?” “How are you feeling?” “What do you want?” And then I wait for an answer. It sounds crazy, but it works. There is always an answer. And then I talk to her like I would a friend. I tell her things like, “That totally makes sense.” “I understand why you feel that way. I feel that way too.” “I’m here for you and we’re going to figure this out together.” If you haven’t done this before, it’s worth a try. It will feel awkward and strange, but you’ll be amazed by what she or he will tell you

Crying can have different impacts on different people. Some experience a sense of relief from it while others don't feel any sort of change. Then there are other people like yourself who actually feel worse off than they did before they cried. Even still, people can feel better after crying one time and worse another time and that it is completely normal. Crying and the impacts it has on someone is very situational. What I mean by that is that the results of it really depend on the situation in most cases. Sometimes, perhaps in your case you can resist the urge to cry but as soon as that first tear traces down your cheek you just feel overwhelmed with emotions that you don't even feel like you can control and this makes you feel worse because you can't bring yourself back to how you were before. Perhaps this isn't the case with you either. The point I am trying to make is that everyone experiences different feelings after crying and I hope you don't feel like there's something wrong with you if you feel worse afterwords because it is actually more common than you'd think and entirely okay to feel. :)

You feel worse after crying because crying uses a lot of energy. Crying and sadness (which are interconnected as crying is expression of sadness) are emotions which lower our energy and are meant for mourning, grief when experiencing loss. When we are sad, our level of energy drops and it makes us feel worse. When we are happy again, our level of energy rise again and we can feel better again. Sometimes crying is also frowned upon in society and is not socially acceptable. In this case we can feel bad due to crying also because of our shame and remorse - we are afraid of violating social rules.

Well, it could be that in our culture/society that we are often taught that crying is a sign of weakness. especially for men. Maybe after you cry, you might be feeling as if you have done something wrong or shameful? Is it possible that you might even feel like you will be punished for crying? I know when I was a child, my parents would often tell me I had nothing to cry about, which made me feel awful. But crying can be very healing both emotionally and physically. Your feelings are very real, and its Ok to not feel Okay.