Have you ever seen one of those videos of someone crying and just thought to yourself…why?
It’s a hard thing to deal with, watching someone cry. We sort of have a desperate need inside ourselves to do whatever we can to make it stop. But sometimes, when really compelled to look at it, we see something new.
Here are a few perspectives on just exactly why some of us like to broadcast our most volatile feelings, via Reddit.
1. “I broke down”
well i only did it once because i used to have a YouTube channel where i would post videos of my first cockatiel but one day she passed away and i was just telling the people who would watch my videos why i would not be posting and than i broke down and started crying
– norse_god69
2. “Screaming for help”
My cousin did this.
He was going through depression and had underlying mental issues he never properly addressed as a child.
It wasn’t for attention, it was his way of screaming for help.
– HypeMan_Q
3. “I didn’t have anyone”
I’ve done this in the past. it was because I was really sad and alone and wanted someone to comfort me. I didn’t have anyone I could personally reach out to.
people are like, ‘why would record yourself crying and post it? that’s so attention seeking’ but then when someone commits suicide it’s ‘why didn’t they tell anyone they were struggling?’
– frumiouswinter
4. “She let the help seek her out”
I personally don’t do it, but a former friend explained to me why.
Yes, it is an attention thing. But at least for her, it wasn’t in a douchey kind of way – she didn’t have the nicest upbringing and was shamed for trying to seek help from her family when it came to emotional hardships. It was a real “toughen up” kind of household, which made her wary about seeking out help. Instead, she let the help seek her out by drawing attention to her bad emotional state without actually having to tell somebody “Hey, I feel horrible, I need someone to talk to and be there for me”.
It’s actually really sad and I hate to admit that this is part of the reason she is a former friend. While I felt for her, this behaviour took the control away from me. I couldn’t tell her that I feel bad myself and she’s crossing a boundary by dumping her emotions on me, since she didn’t specifically target me. Sometimes I feel bad for that, but in the end I gotta take care of myself, too.
– Goblinsridingfrogs
5. “Sometimes people just need a few nice words”
I did that once.
Why? Like a lot of people suggested, attention. I was fourteen, I was alone, I was hurting. I wanted someone to tell me I would be okay, and I wasn’t getting that IRL. So I went online and recorded myself crying and trying to talk about what was upsetting me. I got a lot of a**holes responding, because people seemed so excited to tear down a sad little girl. But I did get kind responses too, and when I felt better I thanked the people who were kind and deleted the video.
Sometimes people just need a few nice words, and I don’t think they’re bad for that.
– Snerpahsnerr
6. “It’s ok to be real”
Years ago I posted a raw photo of myself crying to Instagram. I was 2 months post-partum, having a horrible time breastfeeding, and wanted to show other mothers that they were not alone in the raw struggle of motherhood.
That every moment is not scripted and that it’s ok to be real on social media even when the world seems to value a fake facade.
– Violetsouffle
7. “I apologize for my ignorance”
Even if people are looking for attention doesn’t mean they aren’t doing it for a reason?
My parents beat and neglected me. I was their adopted slave to work their farm and collect the check the state.
I was screaming for attention in all sorts of abnormal ways crying to social Media always felt like a last ditched effort to find someone who actually cares about me for once.
Never worked and I learned from it. Some people are growing and I apologize for my ignorance
– Apprehensive-Nose520
8. “I was crying over a movie”
Dunno, I was crying over a movie so I put a picture on my Instagram story and said that the movie I was crying over was so f**king sad but worth the watch, I cry over a lot of things
– Single_Bitch_
9. “Yes, I wanted attention”
I’m mentally ill and wanted someone to ask me if I was okay/what was going on. People always say that if you’re struggling you should “talk to somebody” but it’s very hard to actually start that conversation.
Yes, I wanted attention. I wanted support. I wanted someone to reach out and show me that they cared. A lot of you seem to think that makes me a horrible person, but maybe try and look at things from a different perspective.
Yes I’ve done shit before to seek attention, but that doesn’t make me not ill, nor a bad person. If somebody is so desperate for attention than perhaps they actually need it.
– VirtualDisaster2000
10. “Basically they want sympathy”
I’m related to someone who does this. Basically they want sympathy and don’t have people close by who can give it to them.
There are plenty of people online who will tell you it’s going to be okay.
– _________FU_________
11. “I had just gotten heartbroken”
I had just gotten heartbroken by the person I thought I was going to marry, and this person, after breaking my heart, spread a series of rumors about me not only on Reddit but to my family and friends as well. And everyone, because of my BPD diagnosis, took their side and pretty much abandoned me.
I felt so alone and depressed and wanted to kill myself so bad. I wanted someone to reach out and tell me everything would be okay and that they loved me.
– tradingmistakes
12. “In hopes there is somebody out there”
Nobody around them cares about them being sad and they are so desperate to find somebody to care about them they have to reach out to a larger audience in hopes there is somebody out there.
– day7seven
13. “I don’t understand it either”
I saw a Tik Tok of a woman crying because the baby sitter had given her baby benadryl and the child OD’d but all I could think about was why would you set up a camera during that phone call.
I don’t understand it either.
– Winter_Goon
14. “My dog had just been put to sleep”
I’ve only done it once and it was because my dog had just been put to sleep and I wanted friends and family to know.
That was the easiest way to let everyone know at once that Minnie The Moocher had crossed the rainbow bridge.
– JamiSings
15. “Overwhelmed by emotion”
I’ve only done this if I’ve been overwhelmed by emotion when I was going to post something anyway.
Once I was unboxing something I bought, and I got very nostalgic, and then once I was just very overwhelmed with the kindness of others.
Also, I am a crier in offline life.
– marxychick1
Cry it out, friends. Cry it out.
Have you ever done this? If so, why?
Tell us in the comments.