Originally published: October 4, 2021
Updated: May 7, 2026
Crying is hard but understandable — most of the time. What about when it feels like you’re crying for no reason? And what can you do if it keeps happening?
We cry when we feel a burst of emotion, or when we’re in physical pain. Crying is healthy. It can soothe us, reduce pain, and show others that we need help. It is not a sign of weakness, as some believe. Yet sometimes crying seems to happen randomly or out of the blue. If crying seems to happen for no reason on a regular basis, it could be a sign of emotional difficulties.
Depression
Depression is one potential cause of crying for no apparent reason. You might cry even if you don’t feel sadness at the moment when the crying happens. Although sadness is the emotion most common in depression, other emotions such as hopelessness, guilt, loneliness, worthlessness, or despair could be playing a role as well.
Depression can leave you more vulnerable to crying than usual. Some people with depression notice that they cry even in response to things that they’d ordinarily take in stride.
Anxiety
Anxiety can also lead to crying for no reason. Even if you aren’t feeling scared or nervous, experiences such as persistent worry, uncomfortable bodily sensations, or thinking about how things could go wrong can be part of anxiety. Crying may seem to come on suddenly and out of nowhere when you’re experiencing these symptoms of anxiety.
In addition, fears and worries can take a cumulative emotional toll on us that can leave us feeling less resilient than usual. If anxiety persists for a long period it can lead to easily triggered crying.
Emotion Dysregulation
Unexpected crying can also happen if you have difficulties regulating your emotions. Emotion regulation is a term for how we cope with, ride out, and get through the emotions we feel. If your feelings are more intense and difficult to manage than they are for others, you may have difficulties with emotion regulation. For many people with emotion regulation problems, the reason they feel upset might be completely understandable, but the size and impact of the emotions is disruptive.
Emotional Overload / Burnout
Emotional overload and burnout can also lead to unexpected crying. Sometimes the reason for crying isn’t immediately obvious because emotional stress can build gradually over time and emerge in ways that feel sudden or unexpected. People often don’t realize the emotional toll that stressful situations are taking on them until it has built up over time.
Chronic stress from emotionally taxing situations or from work or school can also reduce our ability to cope. Sometimes this translates to each additional stressor feeling more emotionally exhausting than the last. Crying becomes much more likely in such a scenario, and can feel surprising when it happens.
In these cases it’s not so much that crying is happening for “no reason” but that crying is a sign of the accumulated toll of stressful situations and difficult emotions that hasn’t yet been fully recognized or addressed.
Hormonal or Physiological Contributors
Emotions are physical as well as mental experiences, and are impacted by our bodies and by our thoughts. Sometimes, unexpected crying can be more closely tied to physiological factors than to purely emotional ones. Sleep deprivation, physical illness, exhaustion, and hormonal changes can make crying more likely. Postpartum changes, menopause, the menstrual cycle, and the effects of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments often make crying more likely.
Sleep deprivation on its own can dramatically affect your ability to manage your emotions, even if your life has few stressors at the time.
When to Get Help for Unpredictable Crying
Crying without knowing why doesn’t always mean something’s wrong. However, it’s important to know when to get help for unpredictable crying spells. You might consider seeking treatment if your crying for no reason:
- Is frequent and ongoing
- Feels out of your control and is upsetting to you
- Comes along with feeling low or on edge in general
- Occurs with strong mood swings or shifts in mood
- Disrupts your daily life — such as affecting your ability to work, causing problems in relationships, etc.
Proven Treatments
In cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), the first step is figuring out a way to make sense of crying spells that is unique to the individual.
One way a CBT therapist can help you do this is to increase your mindfulness of emotions. This can include practicing noticing and naming which feelings often come up when crying happens. Another CBT technique is functional analysis. Here, the therapist helps you identify “chains” or linkages between various feelings, thoughts, and other behaviors that may lead up to crying (or follow it). These tools can help clarify if depression, anxiety, or emotion regulation difficulties might explain unpredictable crying.
RELATED: What Causes Depression? It May Not Be What You Think
Therapy can then focus on treating whatever seems to maintain the crying. CBT uses many proven techniques for depression and anxiety. These include practical skills that can both improve mood and make depression or anxiety less likely to come back. There are also effective CBT strategies for problems with emotion regulation. A specialized form of CBT called dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is often used to help people with chronic problems with emotion regulation. One goal of DBT is to make it easier to cope with strong or unpleasant emotions and reduce their influence on your overall mood and wellbeing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it normal to cry for no reason?
People vary in their awareness of their emotional experience. That and the fluctuating nature of many contributors to crying (described above) make unexpected crying a common experience for many.
Can anxiety cause crying spells?
For some people, uncontrolled anxiety can lead to crying. This may feel surprising when it happens, but anxiety is an emotion like any other and as such can cause crying.
Can depression make you cry unexpectedly?
Yes, depression undermines your emotional resilience and, of course, increases the chances you’re feeling sad or worthless. All of these factors can lead to crying, sometimes with little warning.
Can hormonal changes affect crying?
Yes. The hormonal changes associated with the menstrual cycle, the postpartum period, and menopause can cause unexpected crying. Hormonal treatments can also affect crying and mood, such as those sometimes prescribed for fertility issues, prostate cancer, and for the effects of menopause.
Why do small things suddenly make me cry?
This often happens for one of several reasons. It’s possible you’re more emotionally sensitive than usual due to stress, grief, recent trauma, or feeling overwhelmed. Life circumstances may have exceed your capacity to handle stress. It’s also possible that you’ve not recognized or faced some strong emotions that have recently been lurking in the back of your mind. Hormonal and other physiological factors can also play a role
Consulting with a CBT therapist can help you make sense of crying for no reason, and recommend the type of help that’s best for you. If unpredictable crying is causing problems in your life, please contact us.
2 Comments
I had a time when I was crying for no reason and I didn’t understand why- turned out that I had an under- active thyroid and that it mimics depression. As soon as the under active thyroid was treated- I was fine. So my point is- yes it could be anxiety and/ or depression but it might might be something else like a thyroid issue so check it out.
I had a time when I was crying for no reason and I didn’t understand why- turned out that I had an under- active thyroid and that it mimics depression. As soon as the under active thyroid was treated- I was fine. So my point is- yes it could be anxiety and/ or depression but it might might be something else like a thyroid issue so check it out.