Do Emotional Tears Actually Release Stress Hormones?

Emotional tears do more than signal distress. They carry stress hormones out of the body and trigger a measurable shift in the nervous system. The catch is that the research is smaller and more mixed than most headlines suggest.

Crying is one of the most human things we do. It is also one of the least studied. For decades, scientists mostly ignored tears because they seemed too subjective to measure. That has changed. We now have solid evidence that emotional tears contain stress-related chemicals and that crying activates the parasympathetic nervous system. What we do not have is proof that crying reliably lowers stress for everyone.

Do Emotional Tears Actually Release Stress Hormones?

Yes, in a literal chemical sense. Emotional tears contain higher concentrations of certain stress-related proteins and hormones than tears produced by irritation, such as when you chop an onion. Research from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, published in the journal Science, found that emotional tears contain signaling molecules that affect human behavior. Earlier work from the same research group found that emotional tears contain adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and prolactin, among other substances.

This is where the wording matters. The hormones are in the tears. Whether crying meaningfully lowers the body’s stress hormone levels is a different question, and the evidence there is thinner.

Think of it this way. When you cry, your lacrimal glands in the upper eyelid produce tears. These glands pull from the same bloodstream that carries hormones throughout your body. Emotional tears are not a special drain that flushes stress out of your system. They are a fluid that picks up some of what is already circulating. The amount removed is small.

So the honest answer is layered. Emotional tears do contain stress hormones. Whether that translates into a meaningful stress reduction is still being studied, and results vary between people.

What Is the Difference Between Emotional and Reflex Tears?

Your eyes make three kinds of tears, and they are chemically distinct. Basal tears keep the eye moist and protected all day. Reflex tears flush out irritants like smoke, dust, or onion fumes. Emotional tears come from strong feelings like grief, joy, or frustration.

The difference is not just the trigger. The makeup is different too. Emotional tears contain more protein than reflex tears. They also carry hormones and neurotransmitters that reflex tears do not, including prolactin, ACTH, and leucine-enkephalin, an endorphin-related compound.

This is why “a good cry” is not the same as tears from cutting onions. The chemical content is different. The nervous system signals that produce them are different too.

How Does Crying Affect the Nervous System?

Crying is not a single event. It involves the sympathetic nervous system, which handles arousal and the fight-or-flight response, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which handles rest and recovery. A crying episode typically ramps up the sympathetic system first, then shifts toward parasympathetic activity afterward.

This shift is likely why many people report feeling calmer or more settled after crying. The body moves from a state of high arousal into a recovery state. Some research measuring heart rate and breathing during crying supports this pattern, though the studies are small.

There is an important nuance. The calming effect does not appear in every crying episode. Crying that is intense, prolonged, or tied to ongoing distress may not produce the same shift. Some people feel worse after crying, not better. The nervous system response depends on context, the reason for crying, and the person.

One less obvious point: the feeling of relief after crying may come more from the social response than the chemistry. If someone comforts you, or you feel heard, that changes your stress response. Crying alone with no support may not produce the same effect.

Does Crying Actually Lower Stress Hormones?

The evidence is mixed. Some studies have found lower levels of cortisol, a key stress hormone, after crying. Others have found no change, and a few have found cortisol going up during crying before settling afterward.

The pattern that emerges from the research is that crying is a stress response first. Your body mobilizes energy and attention, then recovers. The recovery phase is where a calm feeling can come from. Whether cortisol drops below your baseline afterward is not consistent across studies.

Several factors likely explain the inconsistency:

• The reason for crying matters. Crying from sadness, frustration, or joy may produce different physiological responses.
• Social context matters. Crying in front of a supportive person is different from crying alone.
• Individual differences matter. Some people report relief; others report feeling worse.
• Study designs vary. Many are small, and measuring hormones in tears is technically difficult.

What we can say with reasonable confidence: crying is a genuine physiological event with measurable effects on the nervous system. What we cannot say is that crying reliably “releases” stress hormones in a way that lowers your overall stress load. That claim is repeated widely and goes beyond what the data show.

Why Do Humans Cry at All?

Emotional crying is universal across human cultures, which suggests it serves a purpose. The leading explanation is social, not chemical. Tears are a visible signal of vulnerability and need. They prompt help from others.

Research published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior and related work has found that tears make people appear more approachable and can increase willingness to offer support. In this view, crying is a communication tool. The relief many people feel comes partly from the response it draws from others.

The chemical signaling idea is newer. Research from the Weizmann Institute found that human emotional tears contain molecules that can reduce aggression and affect testosterone levels in men who smell them. This is early-stage research. It does not mean tears function as a pheromone in everyday life. It does suggest tears carry chemical information beyond their visible signal.

Both explanations can be true at once. Crying may be a social signal and a chemical one.

Is Crying Good for You?

Not automatically. The popular idea that crying is always healthy and stress-relieving is not supported by consistent evidence. Some studies find crying associated with feeling better, especially when it happens with social support. Others find crying associated with feeling worse, particularly when it is frequent, prolonged, or tied to depression.

A large survey study published in the journal Motivation and Emotion found that people who cried reported feeling better about half the time and worse the other half. The context mattered more than the crying itself.

This does not mean crying is bad. It means crying is not a treatment. It is a normal response that can help in some situations and not in others. If crying is frequent, hard to control, or comes with persistent low mood, that is worth discussing with a doctor or mental health professional. It can be a sign of depression or another condition that benefits from proper care.

What Should You Take Away From the Research?

Emotional tears do contain stress-related hormones. That part is well established. The leap from “tears contain hormones” to “crying releases stress and makes you feel better” is where the evidence gets thin.

Crying affects the nervous system, and many people do feel calmer afterward. That experience is real. But it is not universal, and it is not well explained by hormone removal alone. The social context of crying likely matters as much as the chemistry.

If you feel better after a cry, that is a genuine experience worth trusting. If you do not, that is also normal and does not mean something is wrong with you.