So, built into this question is a sense of disbelief that we could possibly cry when happy, because probably tears have been associated culturally with being upset, or being sad. But, we have to ask the question, what is the function of crying?
Research on various animals, as well as on humans, would suggest that crying is an emotional regulation strategy. So, when your nervous system gets overwhelmed with emotion, and reaches the peak experience of emotion – it somehow has to open the valve, and let off some steam, so that it can bring itself back down to what we would call – homeostasis. Which just refers to normal functioning balance in the nervous system, because the nervous system doesn’t want to be too hot, or too cold for too long.
So, if you are happy, perhaps what can happen then is the nervous system tries to bring you back down to a more balanced state, and it does that by letting off some of that emotional energy through tears.
