When was the last time you cried? Today, yesterday, or years ago? Hopefully not the latter. If you're like a lot of people on the planet and me, you hate to cry; but there are so many benefits to crying. I did some research and some introspection to compile this list of reasons you should cry more.

First, let's discuss why we cry in the first place. Tears, or lacrimation if you want to be fancy, are usually produced in a response of strong emotions like sadness, pleasure or happiness and can appear from yawning or laughing. Tears are also used to remove irritants to the eye. There are actually three types of tears, the first being basal tears located in the cornea to keep the eye lubricated and remove dirt from the eye. The second kind of tears is called reflex tears, and these do exactly what their title says. These tears get rid of irritants like onion vapors or pepper spray and can also become present from bright lights. The last type of tears are the ones this article is focused on — crying or weeping tears. Here are five reasons why you should start crying more often.

1. Crying is Not a Sign of Weakness

Let's start off by debunking that myth . We are all human (I hope) and we go through pain, no matter how tough you think you are–guys, I'm looking at you. It takes strong people to admit that they're in pain and crying can be a way of expressing feelings if words are at a loss. Once you accept you're going through a hard time; the stronger you'll come out of it. Drop the macho BS and just cry already.

2. Crying Relieves Stress

Don't you feel a little better after a good cry? I mean, you'll feel a little tired, but overall you should feel more calm. Tears have protein based hormones that help get rid of chemicals that increase cortisol levels, a hormone that induces stress. Especially for the college students who may read this, it is more than OK to cry. We are under a lot of pressure from ourselves, family, professor and society to do well and sometimes we can't live up to that. Balancing trying to become a responsible adult, relationships, work and school can take a toll on one's emotions. All that on top of thinking what the hell we want to do with the rest of our lives, who else wouldn't want to cry? If there is ever a time in your life to cry, now is definitely a good time to start.

3. Crying is a Natural Detox

All those other weird diet/detox programs that you think help your body are just a bunch of baloney. Tears are readily available to you! It just takes the right stimulus and when you've found it, the chemicals in tears will flush out toxins in your system, leaving you refreshed. I would rather cry than eat some weird food for two weeks.

4. Crying Can Get Creative Juices Flowing

Personally, some of my best work, creative or academic, has come from my tears. Crying helps unlock bottled up emotions and helps you focus in on what you're feeling. If you're a writer like me, connecting with the reader and making them evoke strong emotions means that you did your job well. Some of the world's best work has come from personal experiences and just the raw truth.

5. Crying Helps You Move On

As we all know, something in our lives is going to make us feel like crap. Whether it is work, relationships, family, etc. you are allowed to be emotional about it. Once you address what is causing you pain, you can deal with it head on through crying and finally putting your heart and head at ease, slowly but surely.

I don't know about you, but those five reasons sound like a pretty healthy way to deal with emotions. I totally understand, crying sucks. Your eyes get all red and puffy, you may not be able to breathe and you may produce an ugly crying face like Kim Kardashian's (sorry not sorry) but in the end, you'll feel better even if it is for a little while. Don't be afraid to get in touch with your emotions. Trust me, I'm learning how to do so also. Crying is natural, and a blessing that has been given to us to self-console; utilize it and don't feel weak or apologize.