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Since I cry so frequently, I figured I'd make a thread for detailing my experiences. I hope it's enjoyable to you all. Please let me know if there's any details you'd like me to mention or include.
I actually cried rather heavily today for what was probably most of the morning. I woke up after Henry had left for work, which is what originally prompted me to start crying. We try to get up and eat breakfast together, but I evidently slept through his alarm. I laid on my side in bed and cried for quite a while, occasionally sobbing softly, with tears dripping onto the pillow. I sat up after some time but didn't manage to stop crying. I was wearing one of Henry's shirts to sleep in, so I pulled it up over my face and cried into the collar until it was very sodden.
Usually, my crying episodes are rather brief (though this wasn't always the case) but when I'm alone and don't find anything to distract myself, I tend to go on crying for quite some time, even after the original emotion has faded. I did eventually manage to calm down, in order to get up and get ready for the day. I didn't check the time, but it was likely somewhere between two and three hours that I spent crying.
I did have another crying episode today, but much shorter, just a few minutes of sobbing with a few tears that rolled down my cheeks. I don't know what prompted it. Sometimes it just happens.
Thank you for reading.
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Wow, I have never heard of crying for more than 30 minutes, less 2-3 hours, was your crying constant or on and off?
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Amans lacrimae wrote:
Wow, I have never heard of crying for more than 30 minutes, less 2-3 hours, was your crying constant or on and off?
Pretty constant. It's not normal crying, it's a symptom of my mental health conditions, particularly PTSD and depression. I actually used to cry for much longer, but medication and therapy have helped with that.
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feel free not to answer, dee, but I'm curious, what's the most or the longest that you've cried for?
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repressedjudie wrote:
feel free not to answer, dee, but I'm curious, what's the most or the longest that you've cried for?
Depends on how you define it. A couple of years ago, when things were particularly bad, I had a period of about five or six months where I cried for at least 4-6 hours every day, sometimes continuously but usually off and on. It was completely debilitating. I could barely get out of bed most days. Within that time I had a span of three days that I consider my longest crying episode I've experienced—I wasn't awake for all of it, obviously, but for about those 72 hours, if I was anywhere near conscious, I was crying. I slept for about 18 hours afterwards, and my eyes were so irritated it hurt to open them for a week. These days, even my longest crying episodes only last a few hours. I know that sounds like a lot to most people, but with my history, I consider this the best my mental health has ever been.
Thank you for asking, I appreciate the opportunity to talk about these things.
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Wow I didn't think the body could produce tears that continuously
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inmyarmsagain wrote:
Wow I didn't think the body could produce tears that continuously
I didn't either. I was trying to stay hydrated, and there were certainly times I was dry sobbing without tears, but it truly was an impressive feat of the body. Being on the wrong medication for your mental health conditions will do some strange things to you.
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Cried on and off for several hours last night. I'm diagnosed with PTSD and experienced a trigger that started a crying episode. I curled up on my side in bed and Henry held me (I was the "little spoon") while we talked and I cried. Mostly soft sobbing, with some moments of harder sobbing, and a steady flow of tears. I had to flip the pillow over before I could sleep afterwards, because my tears had made quite a soggy patch.
I recalled the trigger again this morning and had another brief crying episode, sobbing hard for a minute or so and then a few minutes of tears. I'm honestly still a little tearful now. When I encounter a trigger like this, I often have intermittent reactions throughout the day. Earlier, and again right now, it seems.
Maybe I should document this episode as it happens for you all... there's a tightness in my chest and a lump in my throat, and my eyes feel hot. When I blink, I can feel the moisture in my eyelashes. My breathing is starting to tremble, there's a slight hitching to it. The tears are starting to fall now, trailing down my cheeks. My mouth is trembling, so are my hands. It's hard to see the screen with how my eyes are welling up — I'll finish this observation when I've stopped crying. I'll let you all know how long it takes.
Four minutes, by my count. I didn't quite sob, but my breathing hitched quite a bit. Looking in the mirror now, my face is rather red, especially in the nose, and there are three tear tracks, one from the middle of each eye and one from the corner of my left eye. The tears flowed down these tracks rather than falling in individual droplets, and trailed down my neck onto the collar of my shirt. My eyelashes are wet and stuck together, and there's a stray tear trailing down the side of my nose.
I do feel a little lighter now, though I will probably have more episodes like this throughout the day. Thank you for reading.