Inability to cry

Anyone else feel unable to cry when sad? I often feel very sad, but I cannot cry, which really sucks in a way. I hope that makes sense. I wish I could cry to release the tension of the sadness. I do cry out of anger on occasion. Anyone relate?

Yes I am also unable to cry, but I think I feel things so much that I get so overwhelmed with the feeling that it stops me from functioning. Which in turn leads me to SI. I also never show many other emotions that I have, even when I am alone. I was raised to show that everything was ok so maybe that has something do with it. But I do find it frustrating that I can't even cry on my own.

I've been like that in the past. Eventually there was a day I just ... cried. For me it was related with something in the past I never dealt with.

It really does suck because there's no where for those emotions to go... it makes 100% sense to me. Sometimes writing things out or talking to people can help though there's nothing quite like a good cry

If you are on SSRI's, that might be the reason.

(((astridetal)))

Yes, I can relate very much. I was stuck in that state of mind, despite major depression for a couple of years. When my stress level got super high last week, I finally cried. Not bawling, but I shed more than a few tears.

I was really starting to wonder myself, because it had been so long, despite lots of depression and stress. I guess that my stress level just needed to elevate to a higher level. Not fun ~ but kind of reassuring that I do still have sad emotions.

I can totally relate. Although I feel very depressed and/or emotional, I can never just cry, even though I feel like crying and I feel like I am on the inside. It's like my feelings are stuck and I just can't get them out. I only cry once or twice I year when I just break down out of extreme anger...

And my name, NeverStoppedCrying, kind of comes out of that. I am always crying on the inside but I can never get it out of my system. The rare times I cry, well, I feel like I have never really stopped.

Yes it's hard to cry when you are drugged but also when you feel crying doesn't help anything

You will have to fake till you make it.
This is not the first time I have seen this with crying.
It will feel awkward and embarrassing but eventually it will come back.

The other thing is massage, massage should help.

I occasionally force myself to cry, have cried maybe twice out of general sadness in the last 4/5 years
so yeah, i know what you mean (and now i feel less alone - half my freinds sob at the slightest provocation eg films, books - one even sobs at happy endings...)

then again, might just be in my social programming - stiff upper lip and all that - surrounded by people who dislike when u show emotion

I dont know I am often the opposite, sometimes I get so overwhelmed in what I am struggling through and how much its draining me I just lay down and the tears just keep coming and I am so deeply sad and feel so lost in this bad situation I am in and how much it is making my PTSD worse. I just never saw all this damage coming, it just all went so fast, and I am so trapped in it, and I am very tired.

And I am often just full of tears. I guess I just never got to morn it, because I am still living it in so many ways.

Open Eyes

I often have trouble crying. I think I am afraid that if I start I won't stop.

I hadn't in a long time, probably a year or so but finally did I think it was last week or the week before just got too down that I couldn't help but give in and cry and mom was even home.

But since then not again and I'm guessing probably not for quite a while though.

I do cry a little bit mostly when I'm alone. I have gone years without crying tho. I too think the psych med's damper my moods both low and high.

Well I can cry, but not very often maybe two or three times a year. And that's often because of my anger, rarely because of sadness. I almost have the same problem with anger though, Of course I feel anger. But it's like it just burn within me, without getting out. so all people say that i'm the type that never cries and never gets angry. but that's just because I don't let it out, but the problem is that I don't know how to let it out or express it. And it always left me extremly tired and sad afterwards. I hope you understand what I mean, it's a little hard to explain.

I know the exact feeling as I am going througha turmulous, chaotic and sad time in my life right now and am also unable to cry.

I have a theory, however. (Take this with a grain of salt, as I am by no means a psychologist yet.)

I believe that, at some point, we just get "Cried out". In other words, our minds become sort of... cauterized to the feeling. Even though we feel better when we cry, we've either done it so much, or have been raised in a certain way that crying becomes alien to our minds.

Anyway, that's what I think, take it with as much salt as you'd like.

Thanks~
Samuel Cross-Meredith

I've discussed this with my therapist. I didn't realize so many people have that problem.
I remember one parent telling me if I cried she would give me "something" to cry about.
Don't even know if that corresponds or not....but almost impossible for me. When I can, I am much more relaxed later on. For a female, I feel it's unusual as I have friends that
hear a sad story and tear-up. I do have PTSD, so maybe that goes with the territory.

Yes I totally understand. I can't cry either...there has been so many times I was on the edge of tears but ended up completely shutting myself off to that emotion. It's like I refuse to cry even when I want to. I've cried a few times before as well but it has been quite awhile since that has happened.

I used to hear that nobody cares about you crying or how you feel...so that has always been in the back of my mind.