"Lunatic is a demented person enjoying lucid intervals during the first two phases of the Moon and afflicted with a period of fatuity in the period following after the full Moon." - British Law, The 1842 Lunacy Act.
The correlation of full moon with mental insanity is an ancient belief dating back to the formation of the word lunacy, derived from the latin Luna, who was the goddess of the Moon, the counterpart of Greek Selene.
Nowadays, one of the oldest beliefs in folklore worldwide is that the full moon can turn a sane person into a madman. Perhaps because of the enormous amount of anecdotal evidence from people working in the emergency services, some scientific research has been conducted in this field - but the conclusions were mixed. For example, in 1972 research at the University of Miami seemed to show that the homicide rate in the city reached a peak at full moon. " Anecdotally, psychiatric nurses say patients become more disturbed when the moon is full, and firemen report more cases of arson. Indeed, scientific research does show a correlation between changed manners and the full moon." Dr David Nias, lecturer in in medical psychology at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, admitted. To his point of view, this blip was explained by the small number of people who believe in the "full moon effect" changing their demeanor accordingly - in much the same way as believers in astrology modify their conduct to match that associated with their star sign.
However, now and again, scientific evidence comes in corroboration of this basic astrological opinion: that there is a direct relation of full moon with the doings of individuals. According to a recent research of psychiatrists and other scientists in the Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia Hospital for people with mental disorders: Human behavior, especially that of people with mental disturbances, is indeed influenced by the full moon. For an entire year (August 2008 - July 2009) the team of scientists attended systematically the actions of 91 patients with mental disturbances. After data analysis, compared with lists of police, first aid and hospital incidents, the conclusion was that indeed, the full moon affects human deportment. The preliminary findings of the research were published recently in the «The Medical Journal of Australia». What scientists found was that during full moon nights there was an increase in the number of traffic accidents, attacks and other violent episodes, and a growing number of people suffering mental disorders, vexation or insomnia. Also, among 91 patients who were watched closely for twelve months, the number of patients suffering severe psychological crises with violent tendencies during the nights with full moon, was increased.
Specifically, the scholars inquired into the possibility that there is a tie between only extreme behavioral disruption and the full moon. They attempted a data-based survey of patients with vehement and intense behavioral perturbation, who presented to the emergency department of Calvary Mater Newcastle, and patients with less dangerous behavior for whom hospital security calls were made. The primary result assessment was the ratio of patients for whom display or security call happened in each lunar phase. The results were that out of 91 patients with violent and acute upset, 21 (23%) presented during the full moon — double the number for other lunar phases. Sixty (66%) had either alcohol intoxication or psychostimulant toxicity, and five attacked staff. In contrast, 512 hospital security calls for patients with less severe behavior were equally dispersed all over the lunar cycle. The conclusion was that violent and acute fluster is showed more commonly during the full moon.
The whole issue remains medically unexplained and enigmatic. Some doctors tend to believe that perhaps this behavioral change is connected to the fact that 70% of the human body is consisted of water and the full moon affects this water, just as it affects tides; as a result, an increased pressure on the brain's neurons is exerted. All the same, I simply remember Robert A Millikan's (Nobel Prize Winner-1924) words: "I do not know whether I understand your meaning when you say astrology. I do not know all the influences, which go from body to body. I do know that if man is not affected in some way by the planets, Sun and Moon, he is the only thing on Earth that isn't".
