In the bit of our site where we chat about mental health and wellbeing, this time around, we’re all for a bit of a cry.
You’re getting these articles a little rawer than usual at the moment. It’s been for many people, myself included, what you could politely call a bit of a 12 months, and as I’ve got the keyboard here, my head’s a little raw. I’m not trying to be abrupt, or sharp. Just honest.
This section of the site, if you’re unfamiliar, is a weekly spot where we chat about mental health, wellbeing, things that may be affecting you or others around you, or just, well stuff. It’s a place to breathe out and just have a natter.
A small piece here this week then – and there’s several years of back material if it’s any use to you – but an important one. This article is about the nonsense stigma around crying.
Your body has crying functionality built into it for a reason. There are people far cleverer than me that can tell you what’s going on in your body to make you cry, and what the impact on you of crying is. But it’s a genuinely helpful thing to do.
Crying is a necessity in life, I think. I know over time that it’s become a little less sneered at, and about bloody time. But there’s still a thing, a thankfully small bunch of people, who think crying is reserved for major life events. Not for just feeling a bit crap, or for hidden things going wrong. It still feels like there’s a little bit of a column of things it’s acceptable to cry over, and a column of things where it’s not.
I call bullshit.
Crying is a necessity, because what’s the point of constantly holding things in? It’s a signifier for others that all isn’t right. It’s a feature of your own body that you don’t have full control over.
There are extremes. All the time crying, that’s a warning sign. Never crying at all, that too is a warning sign too I’d suggest. Still, as much as a lot of the conversations about mental health have opened up over the last decade, I still think there’s a way to go, really.
That notwithstanding, personally, I’m past caring about what people think when I cry. I do it, I’m not ashamed. If you judge me for it, I have no control over that. Plus, you know what? I might just be really upset.
You all take care folks. This column will return next week. x
