Our natural instinct to physically comfort a crying person serves an important purpose here, helping to calm the nervous system and allow reintegration into society.  

Interestingly, Rhodes explains that what’s going on in our brains depends on why we are crying in the first place: “The hormones released by our brain depend on what emotion we’re going through: sadness, grief, joy, rage and so on all elicit a different hormonal response, which has a different effect on our brain.

“The more emotional the trigger, the more drained we are likely to feel. This is deeply personal, and the same situation won’t elicit the same emotional response in everyone; it’s all about our personal perceptions of the trigger.”  

So that explains why not all of us cry at the same movies or even adverts (or is that just me?) .

Had a good ugly cry? This is why you’ll feel exhausted afterwards