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ask scienceline | health
I have a friend who says he can’t cry — are there medical conditions that stop people from crying?
- asks Rose Kelly
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From a badly stubbed toe to teenage angst, there are many instances that make people cry. Yet for some – no matter how charged the situation – shedding tears is impossible.
Strong emotions cause our brains to release chemicals that indirectly lead to teary eyes. A flow of tears not only shoots up the level of endorphins, natural chemicals within the body, providing a sense of well-being and relieving stress, but also they release toxins — making us healthier, according to Dr. William Frey II, a neurologist at the University of Minnesota.
Since the physical act of crying is rooted in the psychological, depression – usually a disease associated with tears – can prevent them. According to a review article published this year in the journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, severe cases of depression flatten emotions, leaving a person without the trigger that starts the crying circuit. Max Hamilton, who created a depression scale in 1960, commented in a 1967 paper that severely depressed patients “go beyond weeping” and settle into a cry-proof state.
The battle against depression can itself snatch away the urge to let it out. In a 2002 study, Adam Opbroek discovered that many patients with sexual dysfunction associated with prescribed anti-depressants also experienced a “diminution in emotional responsiveness.” Medication intended to reduce a sense of sadness, Opbroek found, did so but at the cost of “emotional blunting,” or the same flattening of emotion felt by some depressed patients.
Aside from a numbing form of depression, the inability to cry may be caused by a rare affliction called Familial Dysautonomia (FD), or Riley-Day Syndrome. While someone with FD experiences emotions like anyone else, they’re born without the reflex necessary to produce tears: crying becomes a dry display, according to the foundation’s website.
The inability to feel physical pain is another genetic anomaly that can make a person less likely to cry. With an underdeveloped system of nerves for sensing injury, people with Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis (CIPA) have a pain threshold high enough to make a bike accident feel more like a pillow fight, and so tears flow less often.
Crying is a uniquely human trait. The situations that make us cry are often the ones we remember most. It shows we are sensitive to things we encounter in our lives and, in that way, it is important for survival. Spilling tears is something we all need to stay healthy.
May 24th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Sometimes I can cry, and others, I can’t. Like after I’ve been crying and things get worst, the water works stop and I can’t even form tears in my eyes.
Does that mean I’m severly depressed or something?
I’ve been on anit-depressants before, but can that happen? I cry and then just stop.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:18 pm
my husband experienced a traumatic brain injury in an auto accident that left him in a 2 week coma and months of rehabilitation. He cannot cry, not matter how badly he wants to. He was able to cry prior to the accident. His neurologist thinks it’s PTSD, is that the most likely reason? he is not depressed…
May 4th, 2008 at 11:11 am
i used to cry but now it’s impossible. i like to cry and i wish i can be back a normal person.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:25 am
When I’m really sad I can’t cry it out. I develop a lump in my throat and my eyes water but no tears run. Is that normal? It’s weird because I was one of those people who couldn’t control their tears.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
My mother in law lost her huband of 61 years and has yet to cry two years later. She feels a lump in her throat and tighness in her chest but cannot cry. I noticed my husband and sister-in-law only shed a couple of tears, is this heriditary?
July 6th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I suffered a truamatic brain injury in 1996 was in a coma for several days spent 4 months in the hospital and 8 more to recovery at home. Since then, I have not shed a tear even if I feel the emotion in my heart and need to cry. I am not depressed and do not have PTSD since my car accident has been so long. It is very troubling but have not talked to my Dr as I already deal with residual effects such as ADHD and a learning disorder.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Listen, I only checked this stuff out cause my wife says that i am not normal. let me tell you that I haven’t shed a tear since I was 12 years of age. I am now 27. I only cryed then cause i didn’t want to go back to a bording school that shall remain nameless. It was a tuff school which dischsarged us only at the end of the month. My father who I was really close to recently passed and my wife thought that something would come from this and nothing has.
I am not depressed, feel normal and take lifes lessons to my small construction company.
Don’t let people say that not crying is not normal. It just means that you have lived life, and that there are other things bigger than break ups and deaths. Everything has a begining and an end. Peoople that dont cry tend to know this.
Wether it be your dog, car or esspresso machine, everything breaks, so will our sun one day.
So maybe cry babies are the ones that arent normal as they haven’t realised this simple fact of life yet.
GO NON CRYERS GO
August 31st, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I’m only 15 years old, I don’t suffer from depression as far as I know and I don’t think I have experienced any major traumas that could cause PTSD. If anyone on this website can help or knows anyone who can help me understand why I physically can’t cry then could you please post information on this website because I all I want is to be a normal teenager who experiences normal emotions and who can deal with them by letting out a tear. EVERYONE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CRY.
September 11th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Im 15 as well and no matter what I do i can’t cry , I broke my foot no tears came out , when people I love die I cannot shed one tear ,my gf broke up with me and I loved her alot,but could not cry,is there something wrong with me or was it the way i was rasied.
December 27th, 2008 at 1:16 am
This is really interesting! I am really glad I can cry!But I dont like others seeing me cry. I am really sorry to those of you who can’t cry. It must be very furiating.
January 1st, 2009 at 12:27 pm
My husband also cannot cry. He is 27 and has not cried since he was 24. The weird thing is he used to cry ALL the time. Every fight, sad movies, all the time and several times a week. Now it has been 3 years and he just doesnt cry. I wish he would though.
January 28th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I havent cried for 4 years. And no matter what shit happens I just cant cry anymore. I went through a phrase prior to this 4 years of dry spell where I used to cry everyday. The tears were so uncontrollable they just flowed out whenever i feel sad. they were so hard to control. Then after that, I just stopped crying altogether. No matter how hurt or sad I was, all i can feel is a tightness in my chest. Nothing more.
February 28th, 2009 at 3:26 am
For quite long, I’ve been crying almost everyday. When I wake up and when I go to sleep or sometimes even after lunch (personal reasons)
I don’t think I’m depressed or anything… That time I prayed to God that I want to stop crying. Now that He granted my wish, I couldn’t help but feel different. I cry when someone insults me, or when someone dies, when I feel pity, or when I watch dramatic endings. Its just funny that I can’t. Maybe some physical condition caused this but I couldn’t point out what.
My heart is really clenching so bad with a story that I’m currently reading. My eyes burn and I can barely breathe, but I can’t cry.
March 4th, 2009 at 1:42 am
I haven’t cried over anything in just under nine years. Not sure if it’s due to depression or a mental block placed upon myself for seeing crying as a weakness. I do wonder about it though, and wonder why it is that no matter how bad things get, who dies, or whatever, I can’t shed one tear.
March 4th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
I had the most difficult time crying after my son was killed. Yet, when I would go to this very kind dentist for a simple exam (painless)…I would be weeping. I cry at inappropriate times and only certain people seem to cause me to be able to cry.
Its a horrible tense *feeling* not being able to cry.
Whenever I am able to shed just a few tears,its a wonderful feeling of relief and relaxation that all the tranquilizers in the world just cannot duplicate. I hope you can help people like all of us who have such difficulty crying. I am certain we will live longer &more happily, too.
April 26th, 2009 at 2:16 am
i used to be extremely depressed and cried more than once every day… my parents were big drug addicts and unlike my other family members who didnt want to get involved i did. tho i no i shoudnt have i always opposed their drug use and would scream at the top of my lungs and swear at them… i called the cops and dcfs on them (they didnt do much infact yelled at me) but as i did this my dad would act abusivley towards me thus i became depressed and after my dad hurt me so bad it made a scar i cried like no other i screamed tears but after that never did i cry again… later my dad samshed me against the door in the closet all i did was louagh… i am an extremely cold person i think terrible thoughts like wishing death on my mother because then i would inherit everything i try to control my thoughts but its really hard and i donnt want to think like that but i really cant help it…. well anyway i dont cry anymore because i think i have had my share of pain and tears so i guess i dont need to cry anymore nothing is painful enough for me to waist m time and mope nothing is that special to me anymore… kinda sad isnt it… even my own brothers death i didnt even get sad hhmmpphh
June 12th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I have not been able to cry for over 5 years. Am 62 years old. Separated about 5 years ago from husband of 40 years. Divorced 2 years ago-could not cry then or at deaths in the family or any other loss. I feel that I want to cry, that it would make me feel better. May get a little misty but cannot break down and have a good cry. Doctors and even a psychiatrist don’t seem to think it’s a problem, but I do. This is the first place I have seen other people have the exact same problem and possible reasons. I take anti-depressants and they seem to help somewhat.