I think you will probably find you have the crying spells when you are "alone" and "able" to have them fairly safely, without being discovered. Your head and body are working together to make sure you have them when it is "best" for you/them. When I figured that out with my crying it made me much more comfortable and relaxed that I could deal with them, that my body was on my side and I could do as Echoes suggests and look at what the crying was "for".