Acknowledging and understanding the sound of collective mourning requires an accompanied understanding of the physical effects crying, sobbing and other vocal expressions has on the mind and body.
Crying is a natural response to death, to pain as a whole, the indescribable feeling of hurt and loss takes it’s form through tears. It is a rather beautiful release, in which the vulnerability of someone is opened, a rare occasion for some, crying has the processing power like no other form of expression. In order to understand the strength crying has in uniting a collective, you first have to recognise what crying actually is, the physicality of it and how your bodies natural rhythm changes with it.
Scientific consensus suggests humans are the only species of animal that produce tears as a form of emotional release, whilst animals express their distress vocally or through body language, emotional tears are a uniquely human trait. The fact only humans experience this kind of response signifies the importance that the role of crying plays in connecting humans together, specifically in a time of need, where ones ability to help themselves is noticeably missing.
Sobbing is a full-bodied affair that can leave you feeling both physically and emotionally drained. Usual bodily functions fluctuate drastically during the emotional release of tears. One noticeable physical change that occurs during crying, is a disruption in your rhythmic breathing pattern. Instead of the normal, steady breath, upset can trigger rapid, shallow and uneven breathing as a stress response. This response is the sympathetic nervous system being activated, also known as fight or flight. Hiccupping inhales can also occur because the nervous system is overwhelmed and the diaphragm starts to spasm slightly. Crying can also create lengthened breathing responses, exhales can last longer and come out as sobs, sighs, or wails. This is because the chest and throat muscles tighten, as well as the vocal chords, causing sound to escape with the breath. After the emotional peak, the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest sector) begins calming the body, leading to slow, deep and exhausted breaths, often accompanied with tremors.
The change in breathing is an audible expression of emotional overload, during crying the breath carries the feeling of mourning outward sonically. Allowing others to hear and relate to these sound of hurt.
The activation of the sympathetic nervous system can also initially increase your heart rate, causing a surge in blood pressure, however as calming hormones like oxytocin are released from the parasympathetic nervous system your heart rate slows down again. Crying is one of the few emotional states where your heart rate both increases and decreases in quick bursts. This creates a kind of heightened state that your body enters, as your mind searches for equilibrium you become more sensitive and open to emotional contagion.
During intense periods of crying the body moves into a pattern of tension and release, activating the muscles of the entire body. Shoulders can begin to shake, jaw clenching, eyebrows pulling together, arms can tense at the side or wrap around the body, and, the chest can contract in rhythmic pulses. Together, these muscular responses of the body are able to create a physical feeling of grief, a feeling that becomes universal and unifying, bridging emotion with embodiment.
These disturbances in bodily functions allow for a communal, synchronised change in pace and purpose, as a collective, humans are able to connect through the disruptions to their usual, natural rhythms.
There is actually little research with defined answers as to why humans express an emotional response through crying, and the health benefits it has on the mind and body. Many theories have been released, however most lack the in-depth explanation required to be the sole reason. The lack of hard facts is surprising considering crying is such a fundamental part of the human experience. However, research suggests a large contributing factor to the reason humans cry as an emotional release is to form human connection. Tears show others that we’re vulnerable, and this vulnerability is crucial in forming meaningful relationships with others.
“There must have been some point in time, evolutionarily, when the tear became something that automatically set off empathy and compassion in another. Actually being able to cry emotionally, and being able to respond to that, is a very important part of being human.” – Michael Trimble, a professor emeritus at University College London.
One finding I found especially interesting was the fact that tears shed as an emotional release are chemically different from the ones people shed for lubrication purposes, when chopping onions for example. Emotional tears contain a higher amount of proteins which makes them more viscous. These tears stick to skin and run down the face more slowly, making them easier and more likely to be seen by others. This is another factor that evidences how physicalities expressed during pain and grief are used as a form of unification on a collective level.
The experience of crying triggers a strong emotional resonance, through the auditory relations as well as the physical body synchronicity. Forming a connection that is unique to humans, constructed through the shared experience of changing bodily functions.