Is There Any "facts" To Prove The Connection Between The Moon And The Affects It Has On Humans?

[RATTER15]

For years I have been told about people going mad etc on a full moon as have we all.

In my line of work I have heard it more and more working with challenging behaviour and dementia etc.

I have often checked the state of the moon on days/nights when we have had many problems with clients, to be honest I have never noticed any increase in behavioural problems at any particular state of the moon.

I want facts not hearsay and yes I know about the name lunacy etc coming from the word lunar.

Reliable research statistics would also be good.

[RATTER15]

Conflicting data , naturally!

Personally my views have not altered, I still see no reliable evidence to suggest that the moon affects behaviour in any way at all.

[LazyGun]

Its not really conflicting data though, is it? On the one hand we have quite a body of work built up over the years, of which JtP gave at least 3 examples. Add to that we do not even have a hypothetical mechanism by which a full moon could affect humans to such a degree.


Then we have one observational study, based around a sum total of 91 violent patients. These two things do not offer equivalence.

Its an interesting paper - it suggests that there is room for more research, but it is not, of itself,sufficient to cause a dent in the view that there is no link between a full moon and psychopathy, despite the link established in many peoples minds through folklore and entertainment shows...

[Charcoboye]

The amount of sunlight reflected by moon clearly could have no effect unless the occurrence of a full moon coincided with the elliptical orbit Of the moon around the earth which I don't believe it does. The elliptical orbit means however that the moon does not stay a constant distance from earth but rather that some times it is nearer than others. The movement of the tides is often attributed to the movement of the moon and the important role the moon plays in our existence on earth...

It wouldn't explain a sudden increase in madness or erratic behaviour every full moon but rather when the moon passes lowest on it elliptical orbit. A close moon is a lot less noticeable than a full moon however and could easily go unnoticed altogether. I have friends who work with the public (social workers and health workers) who maintain that the full moon does have an effect... It's likely tho that the effect the full moon has is asynchronous in their heads as it is in the heads of those they working with!

[Charcoboye]

Asynchronous = as much in their heads as... Auto type "corrected" my sentence needlessly

[Khandro]

The light reflected from the moon may have no relevance; abnormal behaviour is recorded similarly when the sky is overcast. The effect of one planetary body on another (and the living beings on it?) is indisputable, eg. High tides.

[RATTER15]

Khandro, the effect of the moon on the tides bears little relevance to the effect on the human brain.

[237SJ]

I don`t care for statistics. I prefer to hear evidence from people who work in the real world. I have a friend who was a psychiatric nurse at the NDDH and he said that when he worked night shifts when there was a full moon he always niggly problems from the patients. Interesting.

[RATTER15]

237sj, I have also heard many of these stories where I have worked, the problem is on these evenings of the full moon when people are blaming everything on a full moon, I look around me on the same shift as these people and im thinking to myself that nothing unusual has happened tonight but they still want to blame it on the moon! Nearly all my family work in mental health or homes for the elderly, they tell me the same thing, I just think that if they see a full moon they then look for things that go wrong so they can blame the moon. Personally I think it is all hocus pocus nonsense.

[LazyGun]

When examining statements where it is stated that human behaviour is signicantly affected by the moon, then I will favour the evidence and statistics over personal observation and anecdote every single time.

To do otherwise is irrational and potentially misleading.

And the statistics and the evidence do not support a causative link between the phases of the moon and mental health, Nor can anyone offer any sort of plausible biochemical or behavioural link.