It’s not uncommon for people to cry when they are unhappy, angry, or upset, and we have probably all done it at some point. But have you ever experienced overwhelming happiness or achievement and shed joyful tears? Crying when you are incredibly happy may seem strange or out of the ordinary, yet it is perfectly acceptable. You can genuinely learn to control your emotions and improve your well-being through crying.

Theoretically, anyone who experiences a wide range of emotions could shed happy tears or tears resulting from extreme excitement because they are neither age- nor gender-specific. But why?

What exactly are happy tears?

It’s unclear why we cry happy tears or how they differ from angry or sad tears. However, we refer to those tears as being happy when they are shed over happy events, or when we are joyful and excited rather than sorrowful. We don’t cry when we are happy; instead, we cry when we are sad. Every tear is unique and can be classified according to why it appears:

Basal tears: These are the tears that remain in your eyes throughout the day. They help keep your eyes clean and lubricated. A tear contains mucus and oil in addition to the water and salt that you may anticipate. Tears are shielded from evaporation by the oil.

Psychic or emotional tears: We shed psychic or emotional tears in response to a specific emotional event, such as sadness, grief, excitement, or fury. These tears are reported to contain natural painkillers and stress chemicals.

Irritated tears: Irritated tears are those that come out of your eyes when something irritates them or gets in them. An everyday illustration would be crying while chopping onions.

Happy tears come in a variety of forms. According to a number of studies, there are four different categories of positive tears: those caused by amusement, affection, beauty, and accomplishment.

When you laugh so hard or find something so funny that you can’t help but cry, those are tears of amusement. When you are at a wedding or experience an unanticipated surge of thankfulness and pleasant thoughts, tears of affection frequently seem to appear. When confronted with a powerful scene or something exquisite, such as a movie scene or a scene from nature, you may find yourself crying. Even exciting music can make you cry on occasion. Finally, you could have achievement tears when you complete a significant task or get beyond a challenge.

Why do we shed joyful tears?

Returning to the main question, why do we cry when we are happy?

Happiness does, however, have one thing in common with other emotions: whether they are pleasant or bad, our feelings can be quite strong. Happy tears arise when you encounter strong emotions that become overwhelming, according to research from 2015.

When these feelings start to consume you on the inside, you may cry, shout, or combine the two to properly express them. Have you ever yelled aloud after seeing your final exam results, where you may have gotten a perfect 100 in mathematics, and then sobbed helplessly because you couldn’t contain your joy? Well, that is the purpose of happy tears.