Mums were wrong - a good cry doesn't make us feel any better!

London, August 4 (ANI): A good old cry may not be quite as beneficial as our mothers have always told us, according to a new study.

Far from making you feel better, tears can actually make everything seem worse.

Researchers at the University of South Florida collected data from 97 Dutch women between the ages of 18 and 48. The participants kept diaries monitoring their moods for up to 73 days.

An average cry lasted eight minutes and took place in the living room.

Nearly two thirds of women felt did not feel better after crying, and the resulting low mood lasted for up to two days, researchers found.

In fact, nine percent said that crying made them feel even more depressed and upset.

For those who experienced a pay-off from crying, intensity, rather than duration tended to be the deciding factor.

"Only a minority of crying episodes were associated with mood improvement - against conventional wisdom. Crying is not nearly as beneficial as people think," the Daily Mail quoted researcher Jonathan Rottenberg as saying.

Rather than encouraging people to cry, he suggests it makes more sense to encourage them to bolster their social networks.

"When crying helps, it's likely not because of the tears but because it recruits social support and draws attention to important problems," he added.

The study appears in the Journal of Research Personality. (ANI)