The full moon makes me act like a loon!

[andyandy]

Frpm today's Granuiad....

Police have linked full moons to a rise in aggressive behaviour among drinkers on the streets of Brighton.
Senior officers have decided to deploy more officers this summer to counter trouble they believe is linked to the lunar cycle.

A Sussex police spokeswoman said today: "Research carried out by us has shown a correlation between violent incidents and full moons."

Another monthly factor which police chiefs identified as fuelling violence in pubs and nightclubs in Brighton and Hove was pay days.

In 1998, a three-month psychological study of 1,200 inmates at Armley jail in Leeds discovered a rise in violent incidents during the days either side of a full moon.

During the first and last quarter of each lunar month there was a marked increase in violent incidents.

But during the other period of every lunar month, there were far fewer incidents and none at all on some days.http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2095945,00.html


now i remember reading that this was an urban legend believed by our simpleton ancestors....but maybe there's some truth in it? Some rogue werewolf DNA perhaps? :)

[andyandy]

The belief that the moon exerts an influence on human affairs has survived rather obstinately through history. Hippocrates wrote that "no physician should be entrusted with the treatment of disease who was ignorant of the science of astronomy."1Even when, in the 17th century, Johannes Kepler caused the disciplines of astrology and astronomy to diverge with his discovery that the motions of the planets followed mathematical laws, the belief in the moon's influence lingered. And lingered it has to this day. A study by Rotton and Kelly in 1985 showed that 50% of university students believed that people act strangely during a full moon.2 In 1995, Vance reported that as many as 81% of mental health professionals believed that the full moon alters individual behaviour.3

snip

All this being said, the association between lunar phases and human behaviour preoccupies us less today than in the past. One obvious explanation is that, before the advent of gas lighting at the beginning of the 19th century, the light of the moon permitted outdoor activities that were otherwise impossible. Full-moon nights are 12 times brighter (under a clear sky) than at first or last quarter, and therefore it is likely that people stayed up later and slept less than the rest of the time.6 Even partial sleep deprivation over the course of a single night can induce mania,6 and it is plausible that sleep disturbance during a full moon may function as a positive feedback once a manic episode has begun in a predisposed individual. Perhaps this lies at the origin of the association between madness and the full moon.
snip

Modern thought on the correlation between the lunar cycle and human behaviour is divided between those who give credence to a "lunar effect" (i.e., that more "lunacy" occurs during certain phases of the moon) and those who debunk this idea as a "Transylvania effect" (i.e., fanciful thinking).8 In a way, the debate has not changed much in the last 2000 years. In the first century AD, Pliny the Elder thought the full moon gave birth to especially heavy nocturnal dew and caused the brain to become "unnaturally moist," leading to both madness and epileptic attacks.6 This was echoed in the 20th century by Arnold Lieber's notion of "biological tides" by which "the moon, via the effects of gravitational forces on the human organism, causes cyclic changes in water flow among the fluid compartments of the body (extracellular, intravascular, and intraluminal)."9 This theory took shape in the 1970s with Lieber's finding of a statistically significant lunar periodicity for homicides over 15 years, with a peak at full moon and just after the new moon.9 The results for aggression were similar, and the size of the gravitational force was found to be directly proportional to qualitative differences in individual acts of violence: the stronger the force, the more heinous the crimes. Lieber's book How the Moon Affects You became a best-seller and is still in print, although his results have not been replicated.10

snip

The relation between the full moon and aggression was studied at 5 inpatient settings in Sydney, Australia.16 The "Morrison's hierarchy of violence and aggression" was used as a behavioural scale, and the lunar phases were defined with Poisson regression over 105 weeks. No relation was found, as the trend of increasing violence across the 4 phases did not reach significance. There was also no modification of patterns when weekends and public holidays were taken into account. The investigators concluded that the severity of violent behaviour did not vary with phases of the moon.

Why, then, is the belief in a "lunar effect" still so strong? Explanations include: a lack of understanding of physics, psychological biases (e.g., selective recall or selective perception), sensationalism, and the entertainment value of a belief in lunar influence. The philosopher and poet George Santayana once observed, "Men become superstitious, not because they have too much imagination, but because they are not aware that they have any." Health professionals should carefully consider whether a belief in "lunar mental effects" influences their own professional behaviours. Something to keep in mind when you end up on call under the light of the full moon. http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/173/12/1498

Perhaps it remains an urban legend....but a persistent one :)

.... i wonder what analysis Sussex police employed....

[Dabljuh]

"Self Fulfilling Prophecy"

[Mercutio]

Will they be making their data available? Their methodology?

[Soapy Sam]

If it looks like a loon and it acts like a loon, who are we to say it's acting?

[strathmeyer]

Do full-mooners also think people will act crazy during the day?

[Bullet]

There's also this from the BBC - h t t p://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6723911.stm
I particularly like the bit regarding the full moon :- And some say because people are made mostly of water, lunar gravity pulls them in the same way as it does the sea.
Obviously during the rest of the month only the bit of the moon in sunlight exists, whilst the rest disappears (or is eaten by Grommit :confused: )

[sinclairmcevoy]

Well, my wife's friend is sure to call the day after a full moon. With a sob story, how her and what's his face have had it out, yet again. For the rest of the month, she doesn't call. It doesn't prove that the moon drives her nuts, just that she drives me nuts when the moon is full.

[Ashles]

Ah yes this made the front cover of my local paper, the good old Argus. I love living in Brighton.

They mentioned a study by some doctor who theorised a link between the moon's gravity and humans. It has the same frickin gravity whether it's full or not!!! A crescent moon doesn't really have a great big lump missing!

Letter duly sent with multiple studies. I'm sure it won't get printed.

[Madalch]

Ah yes this made the front cover of my local paper, the good old Argus. I love living in Brighton.

They mentioned a study by some doctor who theorised a link between the moon's gravity and humans. It has the same frickin gravity whether it's full or not!!! A crescent moon doesn't really have a great big lump missing!

Letter duly sent with multiple studies. I'm sure it won't get printed.

Tides are higher during the full and new moon than otherwise. The gravity of the moon and the sun are exerted in the same along the same axis, and reinforce each other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tides

However, the idea that we're affected by gravity because we're xx% water is ridiculous- gravity affects anything with mass equally.

[Solus]

The full moon myth is one of the examples to be pointed out wrong in any basic psychology class. Can a whole police department be so ignorant?

[my_wan]

A long easy to read list.
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/moon.html

Gives sample sizes, behaviors, etc.

[andyandy]

A long easy to read list.
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/moon.html

Gives sample sizes, behaviors, etc.

what a great website - even if it is "for kids" :D

[Charlie in Dayton]

I humbly submit this, seein' as I wrote it (http://www.skepticreport.com/mythsmysteries/maninthemoon.htm)...draw yer own conclusions...

...damn, this was better'n four years ago...the lil' beastie's got legs, dunnit?

[Big Les]

The full moon myth is one of the examples to be pointed out wrong in any basic psychology class. Can a whole police department be so ignorant?

Yes. Neither critical thinking skills nor any level of education are prerequisites for entry into a UK police force (http://www.policeoracle.com/careers/initial_recruitment.cfm). Many are intelligent and educated, some aren't. Even the former aren't immune from the dreaded woo without either some exposure to critical thinking skills, or a natural cynicism (fairly common I would think).

[EHLO]

Well it's not just Police, there was a Nurse on the radio the other day who made several claims;

1. *All* the crazies are out on the full moon
2. *Everyone* who works in emergency tries to avoid shifts on the full moon,
3. Thus there are *always* staff shortages on these nights
4. There were numerous scientific studies to confirm this lunar effect

Ho hum

[Wolverine]

For good measure, here's a lovely entry on the subject (http://www.skepdic.com/fullmoon.html).

[JoeTheJuggler]

Do full-mooners also think people will act crazy during the day?
Yes, but only during the New Moon.:rolleyes:

[Jeff Corey]

For good measure, here's a lovely entry on the subject (http://www.skepdic.com/fullmoon.html).
That is a good one, So I'll steal it for my Critical thinking class.
Thanks.
Jeff (Extremely Loony) Corey

[UnrepentantSinner]

Do full moons "effect" people on cloudy nights or just clear ones?

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

This blows my mind.

My grandmother believed in some kind of local legend that said that sleepwalkers come out at the full of the moon at midnight and sleepwalk on their roofs. She claimed her sisters, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother used to do this.

I believed her as a kid, so much so I used to go to my rooftops to look for sleepwalkers.

So it's really interesting to see other legends about the full of the moon.

[Wolverine]

That is a good one, So I'll steal it for my Critical thinking class.
Thanks.
Jeff (Extremely Loony) Corey

*bows*

Do full moons "effect" people on cloudy nights or just clear ones?

The select few people I've mooned seemed equally horrified regardless of cloud cover.

[Cuddles]

The full Moon really does make me act like a loon. Admittedly, so do all the other phases.

[UnrepentantSinner]

The select few people I've mooned seemed equally horrified regardless of cloud cover.

They were probably afraid you were a Warewolverine.

[Ashles]

Yay, my letter was printed - I got a whole half page of the letters page and even a groovy moon over the sea background to my letter.

I eagerly await the reponses.

(And I ignored the tidal change as as they are not making any claims about periods of new moon.)

[andyandy]

Yay, my letter was printed - I got a whole half page of the letters page and even a groovy moon over the sea background to my letter.

I eagerly await the reponses.

(And I ignored the tidal change as as they are not making any claims about periods of new moon.)

found it!

very good :)

[Big Les]

Yay, my letter was printed - I got a whole half page of the letters page and even a groovy moon over the sea background to my letter.

I eagerly await the reponses.

(And I ignored the tidal change as as they are not making any claims about periods of new moon.)

Nice one! Keep us up to date on any creduloid responses. Any chance you could paste the letter into a post for us?

[andyandy]

Nice one! Keep us up to date on any creduloid responses. Any chance you could paste the letter into a post for us?

Don't think he'll mind.....

Great, so we have gangs of youths who are known to police and who run riot and we have to gate streets off rather than increase policing in those areas.

But that's OK because Inspector Parr is adjusting our police distribution according to the full moon (The Argus, June 5).

Maybe we should issue police officers with garlic and a crucifix too.

What century are we living in?

The Argus quotes a study from a Dr Peter Perkins who believes there is an increase in calls to accident and emergency services during a full moon and that, "the human body is influenced by gravitational forces from the moon".

It seems embarrassing a doctor could publish such a study. As anyone who understands anything about the moon should know, the different phases of the moon are solely due to what angle the moon is at relative to us and how the light from the sun is reflecting off it. The moon doesn't have more gravity when it is a full moon - it isn't somehow bigger.

It is the same moon every night, having the same gravitational effect.

If you want to make a link between light levels and behaviour then fine, but to make a link wth gravitational effects is ridiculous.

Inspector Parr asks that universities investigate his perceived link. They have. In 1985 Rotton and Kelly conducted a meta-analysis of 37 studies. In 1992 Byrnes and Kelly reviewed 12 studies conducted over 20 years. Also in 1992, a critical review was carried out of 20 studies done over 28 years. Another study was published in 1994 over a four-year period by Gorvin and Roberts.

In 1997 Amaddeo and colleagues studied the number of all psychiatric contacts in the province of Verona over a tenyear period and their correlation to the synodic cycle.

Another study at five inpatient settings in Sydney, Australia, was conducted in 1998.

They all concluded no link or an "illusory correlation".

Still I'm sure none of this will affect Inspector Parr's decision.

The links we perceive ourselves are always the hardest to analyse critically.

Silver bullets on standby?

sock it to them Ashles :)