Sure. Though you could argue that needing food, water, and sleep is a sign of weakness, too.
Simply existing automatically comes with these “weaknesses”, so I don’t see the point in assigning them with a negative value, as your perspective seems to. I doubt many people would claim that not drinking water is a sign of strength. Why should crying be any different?
Now, having a mental breakdown because you haven’t allowed yourself to feel your emotions, though? Or lashing out at others because you haven’t learned how to regulate yourself? Now, that’s about as emotionally and mentally weak as you can get.
Of course not needing to eat would be a strength. There’s a significant difference between that and what I said, though. Not eating when you need to is not the same as not needing to eat at all. There is no choice but to eat if you are to survive, just as there is no choice but to cry when you need to in order to be mentally and emotionally well.
I strongly disagree. Crying is only a release of emotion on its own. Just because someone is crying doesn’t inherently mean that they’re having a mental breakdown.
I’m a crier. It’s extremely fucking annoying, but nevertheless a part of me. I weep when I’m sad, stressed, pissed off. On occasion, I even shed happy tears.
Am I having a mental breakdown when I cry while watching a sad movie? When I’m justifiably angry about an injustice in the world or my personal life? Definitely not.
I’ve experienced more than my fair share of real mental breakdowns, but that number is dwarfed by the number of times I’ve cried.
While that’s true, it doesn’t change the fact that we need an emotional outlet to be well. Those emotions will be there whether or not you release them when you feel the need to.
If you try to suppress them, you’re more likely to be incapacitated by them—even physically—if they eventually become too much to handle. It’s just postponing a smaller weakness for a larger one later on.