Why are Women So Emotional? The Scientific Reasons Why

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If you’ve ever been annoyed by how emotional women can be, you’re not alone. But you will never escape our moodiness and here’s why.

I’ll be the first to admit women are ridiculously emotional. Countless times, I have completely broken down. Sobbing about something not worth my time to worry about!

Any sad movie in existence has brought me to tears, because I can’t get a grip on my emotions. And this isn’t just me. Tons of women get emotional about things that seem like they’re not even important. 

Why are women so emotional – And why all men should give emotional women a break

I used to date somebody *note the used to* who would actually get annoyed when I got emotional about stuff. He would sit there and roll his eyes as tears were streaming from mine.

Guys, you need to cut women some slack here. We can’t actually help that we’re so emotional. Holding back our emotions can often lead to an even bigger freak-out when we do finally let it all out. There are scientific reasons behind our emotions. We have no control over how we react to certain things.

We can all blame biology for women being so emotional

As I mentioned, there are many reasons for why women are so emotional and many of them aren’t in our control. Some of them may have been caused by the way our parents raised us and others can be helped with therapy, but some can never be changed.

I like that women are so emotional. While our teary-eyed outbursts may annoy men, I think it makes us more human. Science says women show their emotions more than men, and these are the reasons we can’t seem to hold back our emotions.

#1 We were raised to be. I was raised in a big family with a lot of siblings. I can tell you I’m a very emotional person. I was raised to always think about other people no matter what you do, because my actions affect other people.

This led me to be a lot more empathetic because I was raised to think of others which definitely makes me more emotional. However, if a woman was raised in a family valuing their own progression and self-success, she might not be as emotional. 

#2 Hormones. It’s not a myth that women get much more emotional around the time of their period. This part of PMS is extremely irritating to even us. I can look at a puppy and just start weeping because it’s so cute.

Estrogen is the hormone responsible for causing a women’s emotions to fluctuate as we gear up for our period. This hormone is released in different amounts prior to our period and when there’s a lot of estrogen surging through us, we can feel anxious and tense, but when those levels drop down again, we can feel depressed.

#3 We’re insecure. With all of the societal pressure put on woman to be perfect, look amazing, and be something that is just not realistic, women develop a lot of self-esteem issues we try to hide.

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But we can’t hide them forever and the anxiety and fear we feel will eventually come out in the form of a big explosion. The bad part, our boyfriends can say only one little thing, setting us off if these feelings have been brewing for a long time. We often won’t admit the reason we got so mad is because we feel insecure. 

#4 We experienced a traumatic event. This is another reason some women might blow up about something seemingly insignificant to you. AKA, you’ll think she’s gone crazy and is being way too emotional when there is a reason behind her being so upset.

Sometimes, we may have experienced a traumatic event that is so bad that even just the mention of something related to it can cause us to flip out. An example of this is cheating. Some women freak out about the fact you are staying late at work, because that’s what her ex said when he cheated on her.

#5 It’s in our nature to be empathetic. Women have always been the caretakers in society for as long as stories have been handed down. They cooked, cleaned, looked after the children, and made sure everyone was safe while their husbands were away.

This made women very empathetic to those around them. They can’t help being so emotional because it’s how we were made and how we evolved. So good luck changing that.

#6 Our instincts make us respond in certain ways. I’ll let you in on a little secret you may not have known before: Women are badass creatures. It’s our instincts making us this way and drive us to respond to threats in different ways.

Our motherly instinct specifically makes us act crazy any time we feel our family or children are in any danger. This may not seem like it makes sense, but if you’ve ever made a sly comment about our family members and noticed how much we freak out and get emotional about it, now you understand why.

#7 It’s more socially acceptable for women to show their emotions. What if I told you girls actually aren’t more emotional than men, besides when we’re PMSing? You might not want to believe it because you want to protect your macho man status, but it’s true.

Studies of men’s brain activity show they are more emotional. But they do a better job of shielding their emotions from the world. No doubt due to societal expectations of what makes a man.

#8 Our morals can cause us to feel emotion differently. Some people don’t have very good morals. And by good, they have a different opinion as to what is wrong and right in the world.

Those who have higher morals and believe people should treat each other a certain way can feel more empathy than those not sharing those same morals. Maybe women are so emotional because we believe in different things than men do.

#9 We use our brains more. If you don’t know the anatomy of the brain and what it’s responsible for, you’re probably scratching your head at this one, and may even be slightly offended, if you’re a guy. But men and women actually use different sides of their brain more than the other.

Men tend to use the left side—that’s responsible for logical thinking—more than the right side. Women have a stronger corpus callosum—the part connecting both hemispheres of the brain—and can use both sides more efficiently. This actually leads to women perceiving a situation in more depth.

If women understand more of the situation and see it from more perspectives, we get more emotional based on what we’re viewing, allowing us to be more empathetic.

#10 Some women have mental illnesses. Did you know women are 40% more likely to suffer from mental illnesses than men are? When you think your woman is just being really emotional, she could be having a mental illness episode. It could also be she doesn’t know she has a mental illness causing her emotions to fluctuate so much. 

While you may think women are simply being emotional to get attention or to be dramatic, there is a lot of scientific evidence that suggests otherwise. The next time you’re wondering why are women so emotional, cut us some slack and just remember these things!

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