Does a full moon actually affect people’s behavior?
- Asks Sue from Long Island, N.Y.
Andrew Grant • March 31, 2008
![Is the moon making us crazy? [Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiousis/2769127516/">Stelios Kiousis</a>.]](http://www.scienceline.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/MoonFromGreece.jpg)
Is the moon making us crazy? [Credit: Stelios Kiousis.]
I admit that New Yorkers are not known for their superior driving ability, but on this one night the drivers seemed especially erratic. People kept cutting me off. One guy sped right through a red light, barely missing a collision with the crossing traffic. And some genius, perhaps British but probably not, forgot that in this country we drive on the right side of the road.
I thought about what made this night particularly favorable for lunatic drivers compared to any other. It wasn’t St. Patrick’s Day, New Year’s or very late at night, so drunk driving didn’t seem to fit. Only when I got out of my car and looked up did I conceive a possible explanation: the full moon.
The legend of the full moon’s effects on human behavior has existed for centuries, popularized by the myth of the werewolf. The words “lunacy” and “lunatic” are derived from the same Latin root that gives us the word “lunar,” as people often attributed intermittent insanity to the phases of the moon. While many people believe the full moon influences behavior, scientific studies have found very little evidence supporting the “Lunar Effect.”
In 1978, University of Miami psychologist Arnold Lieber wrote the book The Lunar Effect: Biological Tides and Human Emotions. He argued that the moon influences day-to-day behavior and concluded that homicides increased during the full moon after analyzing Miami’s crime records. Similar crime studies during that same time period, however, found no such relationship.
Then, in 1986, researchers from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada combined the results of about 100 studies and found “no causal relationship between lunar phenomena and human behavior.” They discovered statistical flaws in many of the papers that claimed to find such a link. They even reanalyzed Lieber’s homicide data and found no correlation.
More recently, numerous studies have been conducted by intrigued researchers, with most attempts to blame the moon for everything from suicides to vomiting after surgery coming up empty.
So with all this evidence to the contrary, what makes the full moon lunacy theory still so popular? Perhaps it’s the media, who know people are more likely to read a crime story if some police officer blames it on the moon. Or maybe people just want to hold onto an urban legend that’s been around for hundreds of years.
A more scientific answer may be selective memory. If some bizarre murder or car accident occurs, people are probably more likely to remember it if it happened during the night of a full moon.
After reading up on some studies — including one from the authority on this topic, the University of Saskatchewan — I’ve decided that the full moon was not responsible for my experience on the road that night. Perhaps I selectively forgot the thousands of other times I encountered lunatic motorists. Though I have no scientific evidence to prove it (just years of experience), I’m going with the theory that New Yorkers are just really bad drivers.
227 Comments
ithink the full moon has an effect on sertan types of people
I worked in a trauma unit of a major hospital for fifteen years. While there were plenty who believed in the ‘full moon effect,’ suicide attempts, broken necks from car crashes and other mayhem never showed a noticeable increase with a full moon.
It may be important to note that a full moon makes for a more scenic outdoor night party of any kind.
A moonlit night, by definition does not involve cloud cover. Don’t you suppose that far more couples are likely to go out for a walk under these conditions? Perhaps the tiny number that fall victim to crime or pedestrian catastrophe is offset by the night time crimes that occur under total darkness.
If you live in a very rural area, the moonlit surroundings, which will allow you to drive without headlights will certainly make you feel different, but it’s probably lunar light, not special lunar spells of any kind.
Trust the numbers. If you believe in the special moon powers, emotion probably supercedes facts at other points in your life, too.
Well I’m a long distance truck driver and my co driver blames everyones attitudes on the full moons, and after awhile it was giving me a headache. I my self have experienced many odd things happening on nights of the full moons. However, I also have to note that as a driver I look forward to driving at night with a bright full moon as it’s much more light out and can see better. The first thing people seem to recognize is a full moon, and thus it must be the cause.
It has been proven that the moon has no effect on our behaviour. I see this as being mans way of avoiding responsability, yet again. As for the theory that since the moon causes the tides to rise and fall, then it must do something to us. However by what means does the moon cause the tides to fall? Is it magic? Some ancient mystery that we have to yet discover? No. It was discoverd in 1687 by Sir Isaac Newton. Gravity. Tides are caused by the gravitational pull among the sun, moon, and earth. The size of the tides
depends on where the sun and moon are in relation to the earth.
So I think it’s time for people to start looking at people for the reason of the craziness. and realize themselves that it’s not the full moon, it’s just people in general.
I find that the moon does effect human behavior. When ever I am outside at night, in the moons presence I have a sudden surge or energy, I get the urge to sprint down my street, and just keep running. This sensation is especially strong when the moon is full, I don’t understand it, and I have been looking every where for an idea or answer.
Well we know that the moon has an effect on the tides in the ocean. are bodys are composed of about 60% or more of water it would make sense if the moon did have an effect on us
it must have some sort of affect but since the human body is 72% water.granted its contained in a body,but if the moon can move the sea im sure it can affect the 72% water content of a tiny human.even animals are affected.people need to get back to nature and realise the whole universes is interconnected.the whole solar system affects you in some way,just as earths forces affect you.humans are not immune to nature.
IN response to “The wife”: My husband as well is affected by the moon. He gets so angry at me for one week at silly things that normally are not a problem. I get soooo deeply hurt the way he treats me during this week. Wouldn’t you know I did notice that its around the time of the full moon. I also swear by this and LIVE with it. I now will be prepared for the next one and stay out of the way! Also maybe let him know of it maybe he can tone himself down if he knows how rotten he is then. He’s a great guy otherwise! Wife, your not alone! hehe
My son is autistic. I know he is affected negatively by the full moon. It only makes sense to me that a person affected by florescent lights might also be affected by the slight environmental changes of a full moon.
I don’t know about all of you who notice other effects during the full moon, but I’m convinced it’s mostly two reasons:
One, people are affected by the amount of light they see. When they see more light at night, I believe it can certainly affect their behavior. It affects your circadian rhythym- when you feel tired and awake. It’s what makes you keep waking up early if you’re on a regular schedule- your internal clock. And it is, of course, harder to sleep when there is a bright light in your window. (Although if you have thick curtains it might be something else.)
Two, women get their period on a cycle similar to that of the moon- a little less than a month. For hormonal reasons, they will act different during that time of the month. Their cycles somehow tend to sync so women who spend a lot of time together tend to be on the same cycle. With women making up half the population, of course that’s going to have an effect on everyone, even men who only might talk to them occasionally (ever noticed that one grumpy person can ruin your day?) It also accounts for when babies are born.
the thing is though i never notice the moon but when it is full moon i feel a bit happier some reason.Mind you i’m still in primary
my bros autistic so ill keep watch
Ask any cop or teacher and they will tell you that people go nuts during the full moon. I’ve been a dean/teacher at a NYC Intermediate School for almost 16 years. Children ABSOLUTELY misbehave more during the full moon. Its a fact.
The fullmoon does indeed affect us. The same way the moon affects tides (water that is) it also affects OUR bodywater, since the body contains ~7o% water.
Another thing are the magnetic fields that the moon enters (before its full) and stays in a couple of days before exiting (it takes a few days for it to exit). The power of those magnetic fields increase that time, and some of us can feel it even more then.
These past few days ive been feeling rather strange: headaches, nausea, i was dizzy, and ive been in insomnia world. I was telling my friends how i wake up kinda tired from not being able to fall asleep. But when i go to bed at night, i dont feel tired at all, cant sleep – hence my insomnia period. I assumed that my body behavior had something to do with the fullmoon (it has been “fullmoon” period past few days), and i kinda got it confirmed after reading this line from a scientists article about the fullmoon vs human behavior:
“Many people may feel wakeful at night with energy streaming through their body for the three days before full moon”
We have more connection to the planets and universe itself and all other fields, parts and happenings up there, than we actually think. Kinda cool !! =)
Went to our local supermarket yesterday evening. The staff were crazy. Four shelf packers were horseplaying, almost bumping into our trolley. They were wrestling (playing)one was even running around with a knife. When we were in the fruit and veg department, we could still hear them going on like animals. When we came back that way, they huddled around us, shouting.We reported them to the shocked manager. When we were almost home, a car came tearing in the wrong direction up a one way street. Although it was dark, coutless seagulls were circling around, screeching. Then I realised the moon must be full. When I went outside later, a perfect full moon was hanging in the sky.
As the moon’s energy has an effecton animals, I think people who aren’t rational get affected by La Luna.
It is one of those frustrating, hotly debated topics with no definitive answers. I, like many of the people who posted before me, regularly feel affected by the moon. For me it is usually a day or two before the actual full moon, i’m unusually energised, extremely positive, nothing fazes me. Then the following day, usually on the full moon itself, i’m muted, irritable, lacking energy. Usually i’m a level headed, balanced individual so the change is very noticeable. Though i don’t chart the full moon cycles, sure enough my moods match the moon every time. I’m not sure the effects are due to the moon affecting our bodily water content, perhaps it has something to do with the effects of prolonged illumination by the moon at night. I do know that i whole heartedly believe it effects me. I’m not sure i need a scientists report to accept it. We can’t all be crazy?!
Its a scientist’s favorite game to prove any superstition wrong by taking test groups of selected, sane, competent people, who know they’re being tested for SOMETHING – even if its as vague as “behavioral studies”, and then observing them. There is an obvious and inherent flaw in this practice that only a rambling, self-deluded idiot couldn’t see. That’s utterly bunk, so that leaves the statistics. I am not sure where these scientists get their information, but I have two jobs and they both document and prove, without a doubt, that not only nights of the full moon, but the few days leading up to and after result in irrational and dangerous behavior.
You see, my first job is with my uncle. At night, and occasionally during the day when they’re busy, I help my uncle pick up the deceased from hospitals, homes, and care facilities and ship them off to various mortuaries we are contracted out to. They do their thing, and we sometimes help with the funerals, but it allows them to focus on just their part without having to worry about picking anybody up. Without fail. Not from time to time, or with some frequency. WITHOUT fail, the days leading up to a full moon, and the days while it is waning, we pick up more deceased, steadily increasing/decreasing as related to the fullness of the moon, than ANY day where the moon is in any other phase. More specifically, on any given day throughout the month it is considered a busy night if we pick up three to five people. Most nights it is one person or nobody… Just to give you an idea of the size of our operation, we serve within a 150-mile radius of 10 different mortuaries in six cities – one of them the second largest in the state. Obviously we don’t get all of the “business,” but our numbers are consistent and we pull a clean profit for doing some very dirty work. Anyway, if we didn’t have full moons, it wouldn’t be a business worth having because that is the ONLY time we are able to make enough to pull a profit because on on those few days we can pick up anywhere from 10 to 20 a DAY. That means during a slow month that’s almost over if a full moon is waxing, that month, which may have only resulted in 10 jobs 3/4th’s of the way through, can easily turn into 100 pickups over a few days. Its exhausting work that requires an iron stomach at times, and there is no doubt in anyone’s that works for or with a mortuary, that the full moon phase means people are going to start dropping like flies.
Obviously I need not say anymore, but my OTHER job is in internal IT Support and .NET Development. The development side has little to do with the public, but the IT side means I talk to my company’s 500 employees quite often. I’ve been here for about three years, and I’ve come to know them rather well. Most of them I won’t hear from for weeks UNTIL a full moon phase starts to kick in and then all of a sudden these semi-competent users turn into blubbering morons that forget their passwords, delete their files, COMPLETELY forget how to log in, and just generally can’t communicate over a phone enough to know what I’m saying or tell me what’s wrong. These are the toughest days to remain polite and I am thankful I am transferring out into full time development. Anyway, we have a strict ticketing system that logs all of this information and the frequency of, and it is also clear evidence to support that, when its not in a focus group and geared to meet a certain criteria, people act completely insane when there is a full moon. Hands down, screw your “science.”
@ Andy – You completely flubbed your explanation of the cause of tides.
You said “It isn’t the water that is affected – tides also occur in rock (at smaller level, because rock is much more viscous). The sun raises tides on earth, too, at about half the level that the moon does. The reason tides are higher at full (and new!) moon is that they are in phase with the sun’s tides, not because the moon is full.
Here’s the surprising thing – the moon is all there all the time, regardless of how much we can see of it – how much is illuminated by the sun.”
Here is an accurate explanation:
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/
I have the greatest answer ever! The moon effects mostly Dyslexic people. The Theory behind it is that a Dyslexic person has both brains left & right to be the same size which gives off more nerons that goes up & around the membrane which makes them ADHD. Dyslexic people have more water in the brain. I have a deaf Dyslexic son who is almost 17 yrs.old & I can honestly say that the full moon effects him tremendously. It starts a few days before the full moon! I’ve worked with alot of special ed teachers and they say the kids act up all the time on a full moon. The kids who act up are mostly the special ed kids who are Dyslexic or have an emotional set back. If the world could understand the full moon like a women on PMS and be prepared, than there won’t be too many fights between a husband & wife! 1 week before a full moon & 1 week before a women’s period should be highlighted on a calender. Buy a calender that shows the moon cycles & it will help you to prepare you for kids, spouses, work, bosses & people on the bus or driving to work!! I have about 40 yrs. experience of observing the moon & how it effect people & animals too!! Aloha from Hawaii
Here’s my two cents. The light of the moon is just a reflection of the sun rays right? maybe the reason everyone is so restless and more energetic is that the suns rays give off a chemical called serotonin. This chemical more or less “wakes you up/gives you energy”. Would it be so hard to believe that you are getting serotonin from the moons rays as well? That’s my two cents and i also notice myself sleeping less and acting in a different way(better in my opinion).
and for the day time incident. you are getting bombarded with serotonin at night and at day when the suns out. usually you have the night with no exposure at all. with the full moon your getting a double dose so the chemical levels in your body are of course higher. again completely speculation and self opinion. =)
BULLSHIT! Moon has effect on humans.
Oster I completely agree and have experienced this. When there is a full moon, we have strange customers and people Dont act themselves. Our bodies are 80% water and the moon effects bodies of water around the world so why wouldn’t it effect humans? Pay attention tomorrow March 19th, the moon is supposed to be the closest and fullest in 20 Years. Pay close attention to behaviors.
I have been wondering about the tides. I mean, not only tides outside, but if there are tides within us. If we are made mostly of water, could it be that some tides inside are connected to the ones outside? Since the tides of the seas outside are connected to the wind which is connected to the sun and moon. So could the odd behavior be completely connected to the tides, winds,and moon? Do we even have tides inside us?
I’m pretty thoughtful about this topic. I have found that at least once a month I don’t sleep as much and wake up. I usually want to look out my window once I suddenly become awake, but that could be because of something else. The moon must have SOMETHING to do with us. After all, I feel that the galaxy is part of me and I am part of it. Does the moon change our behavior for a very specific reason? It is said that there is a reason for everything. So what is the reason for odd behaviors connected to the moon? Are we playing an important role? Is it a natural instinct from ancient ancestors? Or does it exist to help those who need help feel alive?
i had experienced it personally.It affected my behaviour a lot on those near by days
I don’t have any theories regarding the affect the full moon has on humans but I have noticed on nights when the moon is full I get reall tired and groggy. It all kind of gets foggy from there and I often wake up in my backyard naked with no recollection of how I got there…. Anybody else experience this?
I must say that I do not get as much sleep as I need and feel tired. However, I don’t wake up in my backyard, unsure of how I came to be there, but I do get up and wander around when nobody else is up. I feel restless and uneasy, I never want to return to my bed during the walking, but walking around the house late at night helps. I must admit that I do sometimes walk out into my backyard and I am aware that I am doing so.
My observations of the full moon over the years are that two days before the full moon ,some people become angry and violent,one day before the full moon some people are suicidal and depressed.These are observations of myself as well.
I lived in Paris, France for over 2 decades and during that time regularly went to the fitness club 3-4 times a week. European customs, being different than those in the US, meant that there are no individual shower cabins at sporting facilities, but large communal shower rooms with 20 or more shower heads sticking out of the walls and all the guys showering in plain sight of each other.
During these 20+ years, (and I will try to be as tactful here as possible), with absolutely no ‘sexual’ connotation whatsoever, every few weeks the normal calm shower environment with everyone nonchalantly chatting while soaping up, would become more silent as practically ALL the guys quietly faced the wall since they were all in a publicly embarrassing position. Upon noticing this, every time I would then go home and check the calendar and, bingo, it was the full moon. These where not isolated occasions, but a regular occurrence noted, and then verified, as always occurring at the full moon and at no other time.
I often find blood under my fingernails and large wolf-like footprints all around me whenever I have a full moon episode.. I am so scared… I must be sleep-walking.
i do believe that your beavior is affected because it hapend tome, it was so afful i wanted to kill someone and eat them.
Who are we to be so closed minded. I believe the moon can change the mood of a human being.if the moon can shift the wave of a tide why can’t it shift the mood of a human. We all should be open to all possibilities. I like to think the univers as mystical, because it is. We shouldn’t base what we believe in simply because of statistics. Someone should really study on the moon and the characteristics of the moon instead of beliving untrustorthy websites and statistics.
yesterday i coudln’t sleep very well, i was very nervous that i wake up 5.am, (i usually get up 6.30am )suddenly i started to fell asleep and i fall in my bed but i dream a terrifying nightmare i which i was death, i feel some possesed people manipulating my body, i saw a guinea pig black death who was digging in the ground it was in pieces i saw a person manipulating from the ground , i saw my brother acting very strangely and the people say that he was with the devil inside and he tried to pulling me stronly so i could’tn breath and talk anymore , i saw the bible too but my sister grabed it from the coach, i lake a someone try have my soul i some way i coudn’t wake up i was trying very hard to fight with that but when i achieve wake up i feel horrible, completely nervous,and whit a strong asleep i don’t know that happen to me yerterday, actually i feel strange and very worried.
I am actually a bit relieved and interested to have stumbled across this site and comment thread… i am in a relationship with someone who has a definite undiagnosed mental instability – i had started keeping track of his bizarre moods and truly extraordinary rants ( one of which was the near end to our relationship due to an increase in toll fees on the road separating our homes)The behavior can vary from strange tantrums all the way to suicide threats and so far two unfounded resignations from jobs… today we have had the beginnings of the latest episode,which i had started to note seem to be monthly, and i had started wondering whether men could have PMS cycles ( which god knows i have, but luckily not in sync with his) and for the first time i noticed the impending full moon and started to look it up… funny enough, i stumbled across a historical calendar, and would you know it – he was born on a full moon also… what do we think skeptics? ( i am scientific by nature and profession and am not sure i believe just yet – but the regularity of these occurrences are uncanny)
i work as a cna and with people that have mind disorders and when it is a full moon they go crazy the different types of dementia is the worst. They do not know anything forget even worse and do very very strange things and I have found that when the moon is not full they are not as bad and can function almost like normal and when I mean normal I mean to the standards of the disease that they are facing. they will never be normal but at least we as people who take care of them do not get hit or spit at. So in conclusion of the full moon I do very much believe that it does have an effect on humans.
I’ve noticed that on full moon nights and days a friend and I act very srange and we have really bad days, I love my job and I do well at it but tonight I messed everything up I had to be coached! So a few months ago my friend and I were looking for reasons and proof that this may be what our behavior changes are coming from, then when we couldn’t find much we whent online and looked up the nights we were born and we were both born on full moon nights, weird I know but maybe there is some sort of a connection with the nights we were born and now every full moon were all wonky. I do believe it has an affect on people, it may be so small you don’t notice, it may be for different reasons and different ways, but how else can you explain bizzar behavior in people those specific nights?
I think it does have an affect on humans because even I (sometimes) act differently. But that could just be because I think it’s because I’ve always made myself think that a full moon is for the werewolves… So then again that might be why I act like that. But my friends are the same. They act alot different than they normally do. And I should know. We hang out alot. So my conclusion is that the full moon does have an affect on humans.
when the full moon is coming up I feel wired, uable to sleep,very energetic and jittery. It is not really a negative effect, I just notice a difference in myself, a surplus of energy. I find myself wanting to go for long walks at night and I take on tasks i’d lately put off.This last time it was espesially strong and I literally felt like I was going to jump right out of my skin. I’m not going to generalize and say that the full moon affects everyone but it certainly affects me. This has happened to me to many times to not notice that there might be a connection between the full moon and how I am feeling. The idea that being born on a full moon might play a role is very interesting. I will have to find out.
I’ve been getting tired the past couple of days so after what my teacher told my class about this, and finding out it is nearly a full moon, I’m gonna make a moon calender.
It most definitely affects me. I get really depressed yet highly agitated at the same time…definitely not a nice feeling at all! I feel really sorry for my husband who has to put up with this every month, too. I start to feel it about three or four days before the full moon and doesn’t go away until it starts to wane. I almost wish I could be put under anesthetic until it passes. Seriously! For those of you who are saying it’s “all in your head” have obviously never experienced it. You would definitely be singing a different tune if you did!
We must be a really disconnected culture that THINKS and not feels the affect of the moon.
How bizarre that we use academic statistical studies to ponder the affect of the moon?
How absurd is that?
How absolutely disconnected !
Just ask any woman if the moon cycle affects them and their behaviour… Ask any sensitive energy medicine worker if they can feel the affect of the full moon. In any nature based connected culture the full moon energy is known and used to raise the energy for ceremonial purposes. I suggest investigating QI Gong masters and people who have an awareness that is beyond the mind and brain but you would have to be able to let go of your conditioned way of being seeing and thinking to accept their world view. It’s called “getting out of your head !”
I understnad the thinking of everyone who has posted a comment and in my opion the moon efects everyone… some less and some more no matter if u are biploar or is your unstable emotionally that really doesnt play a role… i can only say from expirence that since i was 7 i have had the urge to go outside on full moons, not sleep, do very bizarr things for example latly i want to howl at the moon like a wolf… i am not bipolar and not emotionally unstable. Same goes fro my bestfreind she has a bit of insomia but it is much worse on full moons and when she see’s the full moon she sits on her balcony and stares at it… i have to say that the moon brings up memory’s i have never had for example something out of a past life i have had dreams on a full moon about poeple in a differnt era that i dont even know and have never seen in this life time …….. so if i were to conclude this i would say that this has an effect on ME and MY bestfriend
I believe that you do not have to be unstable for the moon to affect you! My daughter is 4 years old and for a couple of years now the few days before a full moon really does affect her. She does such silly things and is so accident prone and tantrums are unbelievable. Some people say I just have a normal 4 year old but the rest of the time she is a perfect little 4 year old. But when the full moon is on the way everything escalates and is 3x as bad as what they would be normally. It would end in us all in tears before bedtime. It is so frustrating. No one has picked out that she has any other behaviour problems and I have been told she is forward for her age in the things that she can do and knows!
For many years I never linked the phase of the moon to anything. Then, whilst researching the contents of the bible, I noticed that our ‘Creator’ said that – after the completion of creation – the moon will be a signal to us when to celebrate the Sabbath.
On further investigation I discovered that the four phases of the moon – full/half/black/other half – are seven days apart! This is only the case if the days of the full moon aren’t counted. After yet more research, it was discovered that the days when the moon is full (can be just one, usually two, but on rare occasions three, these days were celebrated as feast days by the first Israelites.
Our Creator says quite clearly that the moon was created on the fourth ‘day’-making the lunar cycle series fit very well. Mankind has however changed the writings, over the years, and created a standard seven day week; this in no way explains why we still have the mo’o’nth! Makes more sense when approached with an open mind…..
The moon most definitely has an effct on my moods, funny enough thats why I am typing this message now! My mood today has gone from feeling pretty rubbish to upbeat, happy, energetic and some what mischievious! It was only when I went outside and noticed a full moon that I connected the two (once again). So I thought, let me type into google (does the moon effect peoples moods?) And I found this site. It is a question that has baffled me for years because I distinctly notice a difference in my behaviour during a full moon, its almost like ive had a few drinks, I laugh an awful lot more than I would usually, its a pretty cool feeling actually!! Bring it on!! Sharon London.
It’s funny, I too started questioning the science behind this. Apparently it affects the balance of positive/negative ions in the air. Positive ions are higher with the changing moons as well as with certain winds. Too many positive ions can affect the body negatively, some it balances them out. So if your already unstable as has been mentioned, sometimes it makes you act even more unbalanced. It affects our adrenal glands and the production of serotonin. Some people have too much serotonin, largely because of anti depressants that increase serotonin. Or just naturally havemore than others. So in some the affects are upbeat moods. Others really are affected negatively.
First, the gravitational effects of the moon are far too minuscule to generate any meaningful effects on brain activity, let alone behavior. As the late astronomer George Abell of the University of California, Los Angeles, noted, a mosquito sitting on our arm exerts a more powerful gravitational pull on us than the moon does. Yet to the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports of a “mosquito lunacy effect.” Second, the moon’s gravitational force affects only open bodies of water, such as oceans and lakes, but not contained sources of water, such as the human brain. Third, the gravitational effect of the moon is just as potent during new moons—when the moon is invisible to us—as it is during full moons.
Had a loony day today. First sleepless night in months, and blaming the insomnia on the chain of events of my erratic emotional day. Came upon this article. Thought it interesting and googled Moon Phase 2012. Ironically it is a Full moon today the 9th at 2:26am.
To everyone who claims that they themselves or people they know act erratically on full moons:
Cool story bro.
Just to throw another voice in the ring – I’ve a long academic background in physics (and rationalist, humanist philosophy!) and I personally feel BOTH the strong effect of the full and new moons. Many of my peers are surgeons, psychiatrists, doctors, etc., and although they may make no personal concurrence, they see a lot of evidence in certain individuals to suggest noticeable behavioural changes. The ionization hypothesis is interesting, although I feel it’s safe to say it is unlikely to be due to gravitational pull (as someone further up explained, the tides are affected by both sun and moon). There remains, in the world of physics, much undiscovered. The way two or more massive objects interact could feasibly have some affect on life that we are as yet unable to analyse. It would be interesting to study the behaviour of other mammals too. The fact it occurs perhaps only in certain people (suggestion that bipolar sufferers seem more strongly affected here; quite possible, although bipolar is a spectrum disorder and each individual case is at a point on a gradient – and each individual case really means every human being alive is somewhere on this scale) may be suggestive on an evolutionary cul-de-sac. Who knows the reasons nature once ‘believed’ that sensitivity to the interaction of earth, moon and sun on monthly phases might be an evolutionary benefit any more than why it never occurred in nature for dogs to see colour or humans to have wings, or any other list of complex possibilities. I’m definitely a firm believer, I write this as the moon enters its final quarter, a very typical couple of days of quiet serenity are passing into a more profound state of quiet sadness…in a couple of days I won’t feel much like getting out of bed at all, I’m sure, before I experience a significant raise in energy, enthusiasm, creative motivation and harmony as the moon waxes, warming to gradually, day-by-day, increasing insomnia and nervousness and anxiety at the full moon. It’s very strange, and all of these moods can be overridden by external influences in life, but the general ebb and flow I find quite comforting, knowing how things will pass and when. It had never occurred to me until I filled a few evenings having fun working in a bar and was bombarded with warnings to beware the full moon…and rightly so! I don’t keep track of it in the sky, so I was curious to correlate all my ‘data’ from years of keeping dated diaries with comments on my general mood to the past phases of the moon. There were some pretty interesting results. Seems like a really large, serious study might be needed to gather enough information on this, and frankly, there’s more important things to spend the world’s miniscule research budget on. Still, I’m willing to hedge my bets and say yeah, it seems likely there is some non-gravitational effect on humans from the phases of the moon and its interaction with the earth and sun.
I know it seems silly, but I’ve worked in the doggy daycare industry for ten years and fights consistently happened on full moons and dog behavior was noticeably more hyper and ” out of character”. It got to the point I began to track it. I don’t know why it happened, but full moon days always were different and had incidents. I’m a very practical person so while there seems to be little scientific back up for this, I know that I began to plan for full moons because it was so consistent,