What Happens When You Don't Cry? (With Dr Glenn & Phyllis Hill)

What Happens When You Don't Cry? (With Dr Glenn & Phyllis Hill)

From Connection Codes by Connection Codes

June 2, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

This episode explores the importance of crying and the emotional and physical consequences of suppressing tears.

Glenn and Phyllis at the mic. They open with a goodbye on a train platform in Switzerland — and the tears Phyllis chose not to swallow — then go straight into what crying actually does inside your body, and what it quietly costs you when you don't. Glenn unpacks the science (your tears are carrying stress chemistry out of you, and blocking them keeps it in), and Phyllis shares the grief that went underground the year her mom died, when she told herself she "didn't have time to be sad." This is an episode about permission — to feel it, to let it flow, and to be the kind of person who can sit with someone else's tears without trying to fix them. In this episode: Why "boys don't cry" may be one of the most damaging things our culture teaches — and why Glenn says it's like telling someone not to exhale What's actually inside an emotional tear, and why blocking it leaves stress trapped in your body Phyllis's story of not crying when her mom died — and the grief that went underground for years The power of the Ooh: what to do instead of reaching for the tissue box Why offering a Kleenex can quietly tell someone their tears are a problem A live Core Emotion Wheel on…

People in this episode

Guests: Dr Glenn Hill, Phyllis Hill

Topics covered

  • crying
  • emotions
  • grief
  • mental health
  • stress
  • self-permission

Keywords

  • crying
  • emotional health
  • grief
  • stress chemistry
  • Core Emotion Wheel
  • mental well-being
  • self-improvement

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Switzerland

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