Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
The Correlation Between the Full Moon and Lunacy
Fact
or Fiction?
Psychiatric
hospital admissions and crimes increase during full moons.
While many people
believe this phenomenon to be true, there is no scientific proof that the full
moon affects anyone in a negative manner. The idea that the full moon affects
people has been used throughout history to explain away bad or strange
behavior. The very word lunatic is derived from the name of the Roman moon
goddess, Luna. Greek and Roman philosophers “suggested that the brain was the “moistest”
organ in the body, and thereby most susceptible to the pernicious influences of
the moon” (Lilienfeld and Arkowitz, 2009, para 1). This has been proven
incorrect for many reasons. One reason is the fact that the moon’s
gravitational pull affects only open bodies of water, and another reason being
that the moon’s gravitational pull is the same for new moon as it is for a full
moon. The belief of the full moon’s influence continued during the Middle Ages. During that time it was known as the lunar lunacy effect or the Transylvania
effect.
One of the only
possible explanations to the origin of this belief (urban legend) may be that
the brightness of the full moon affected the sleep patterns of people who
mainly lived outdoors. Lack of sleep affects people’s behavior especially those
with preexisting psychological disorders, causing them to possibly act in a
bizarre or erratic manner (Lilienfeld et al, 2009).
These beliefs are still alive and well in the
modern world. However, the results of many studies to date have found no
correlation between the full moon and the erratic behavior in humans. It seems
the misconception may be related to the preconceived notions based on knowledge
of what is no more than an urban legend.
References
Lilienfeld, S.O., &
Arkowitz, H. (2009, February 09). Lunacy and the Full Moon. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lunacy-and-the-full-moon
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