Women's World Cup viewers have reported crying buckets of tears over this tournament, in ecstasy and celebration, and heartbreak and defeat.
Much of the emotion has been expressed while watching the Matildas, whose World Cup final hopes have ended after a .
Most of us have never met the players, but we feel like we have relationships with them, sports psychologist for the Australian Institute of Sport and AFL Mary Spillane told SBS News.
This Women's World Cup has been agony and ecstasy for viewers. Source: AAP / Zac Goodwin
When we watch the Matildas, or any sports team play, it creates changes in our brain, she said.
"When your team wins, there are changes chemically; we get a rush of endorphins and dopamine.
"And that makes us feel really, really good and the bigger the game, the bigger the wins the bigger rush of endorphins. So there's actually physical changes happening in the body."
Sport has the same effect on humans as profound theatrical and religious experiences, according to Thomas Dixon, who wrote a book on the history of weeping in Britain.
"For those of us weeping among the spectators or on our sofas at home, what we are doing is not so different from someone who weeps over the grief of Mary Magdalene or the woes of Titus Andronicus - namely, experiencing our common humanity and performing it through our body," Dixon
Fans at Melbourne's Federation Square riding the highs and lows of Australia's quarter-final match with France. Source: Getty / Diego Fedele
This is referred to in psychology as social identity theory, Spillane said.
"There's the social and emotional contagion that's going on, where we have this sort of shared experience with so many people, everywhere you go, people talking about the Matildas and what they've been able to achieve.
"People want to be a part of that and be able to connect with others around the shared experience because we get a lot of value from being part of groups and connecting with people around shared interests and values."
Spillane says as humans when we see someone else being emotional we are predisposed to have an emotional response as well, which helps us connect.
So if we see someone crying we may automatically want to comfort them or if we see someone overcome with joy and achieving their goals, we're predisposed to have a joyful response to that as well.
But we know that major sporting events have been linked to increases in violence and domestic abuse.
In 2020 police across Australia reported a 30 per cent increase in domestic violence-related incidents over the weekend on which the AFL and NRL grand finals were both held, according to the Centre for Non-Violence in Victoria.
Spillane says violence is typically linked to alcohol consumption and is "a separate issue" to just feeling emotional during a tournament.
Australian players said they were heartbroken but proud after their semi-final loss to England. Source: AAP / Sports Press Photo
How might the Matildas be feeling after the semi-final loss?
Spillane has been working with athletes for over a decade and says the new generation has much higher emotional intelligence, access to better support and is more sophisticated in talking about how they're feeling.
But for the Matildas, after such a historically and emotionally significant tournament, the loss will obviously be devastating.
"It'll be heartbreaking and I think you have to accept and embrace it," Spillane said.
"After something like that you need to grieve and get support from the wider team.
"Being able to talk about the experience and reflect and validate each other's experience, I think is super important."
