The sight of a man crying in front of a crowd is difficult to imagine for most people. In today’s world, a man expressing any sign of emotional weakness seems off-putting. The majority of society is taught to “toughen up” during hard times—they are told that any sign of vulnerability gives people a negative impression of them. However, the truth is the exact opposite. While expressing emotion, especially for men, is seen as a sign of weakness in modern society, people should be able to freely express themselves; this enables individuals to speak openly about their problems, allowing them to improve their overall health.

Despite social norms pushing the idea that expressing emotions is unusual and inappropriate, the opposite is actually true; expression is a natural human response to hard times. The suppression of feelings, on the other hand, is unnatural. According to National Public Radio, tears were “powerful tools” in ancient human society, as they gave early humans a non-verbal way to signal to others that they needed help. This evolutionary tool was crucial for human development, as it built a sense of community, allowing people to deal with their problems together. This trait was so beneficial that it is still prevalent in modern society. Also according to the National Public Radio, babies commonly cry for attention to ensure their needs are met, just like ancient humans. Crying is also fairly common in adults; according to the Harvard Health Blog, men cry 1.9 times a month and women cry 3.5 times a month on average. That is for good reason, too: according to Headspace, emotions “are prompts” that tell us in the present moment what someone should be doing to better their situation. Crying is a natural response for humans; there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it. In fact, trying to stop yourself from crying goes against your body’s own functions, as crying is something that has developed with thousands of years of evolution and is hard-wired into everyone’s mind when they are born. The point of crying is to show both an individual and their peers how they are feeling to get to the root of and solve their problems. 

  Expressing emotion not only helps people understand their problems; it also naturally helps soothe people, further aiding them in withstanding any difficulties they may encounter in life. For example, according to Healthline, crying releases endorphins and removes manganese which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is a chemical that causes many memory and mental health problems. Crying gives people a way to heal themselves on their own. Even if it is not done publicly to signal a need for assistance, crying has natural mental and physical benefits that can help people through tough times. By suppressing their need to cry, individuals would be unable to help themselves process and move beyond their problems.

When people choose to hide their emotions from both themselves and others, it causes them to be in an even worse state. As stated before, crying removes manganese from the body, but suppressing the need to cry allows manganese to build up, which according to Harvard Health Blog, can cause “resilient immune system, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension.” In addition, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, suppressing emotions increases the risk of premature death by 30% and the risk of cancer by 70%. Withholding people’s need to express their feelings can hurt their physical and mental health, creating a positive feedback loop in which someone who tries to hide their emotions when they are distressed develops health problems, which causes them more stress.

The stigma of avoiding expressing emotions, especially for males, causes their pain to intensify; it is only through the expression of emotions that they can deal with their suffering and show true strength. According to Healthline, suicide is the leading cause of death in males; however, “they’re still far less likely to seek mental health treatment than women” because of the stigma around men and the idea that they should “toughen up” in the face of adversity. This often leads such individuals to deal with their problems with methods that do more harm than good. Others take more extreme decisions, according to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, as “men died by suicide at a rate of 3.54 percent higher than women in 2017.” The idea that men are “weak” if they are open about their struggles is unfounded and unjust. 

Expressing emotions aids in healing people’s emotional state as it both provides a way to signal negative feelings as well as a way to heal those emotions. Despite the stigmas about emotional expression being seen as “weak,” it is only through true strength and courage that someone can fully express themselves. Society needs to come together to understand that expressing emotions is the only way to address mental health problems and to stop encouraging the idea that people should just “toughen up.”