Lunacy Fact or Fiction

The phrase ‘There must be a full moon out tonight’ has been verbalized for years to describe the behaviors that humans demonstrate when there is a full moon out. Some evidence say that the moon causes erratic behaviors in humans.

Lunacy is defined as intermittent mental derangement associated with the phases of the moon. The prefix of Luna comes from the word lunatic. The full moon is believed to   cause lunacy in humans. A full moon is when the moon is opposite of the sun and appears fully illuminated. A full moon only occurs every 29½ days. Some research says a new moon can also cause lunacy, a new moon occurs every 27 days.

“The full moon has been linked to crime, suicide, mental illness, disasters, accidents, birthrates, fertility, and werewolves, among other things The full moon has been linked ”(Carroll).   When there is a full moon there are more behavioral outburst, for example when I worked at an adult daycare the clients would have the most behavior outburst when it was going to be a full moon. The two common erratic behaviors that are associated with lunacy are lycanthropy which is the belief that one has turned into a werewolf and drinking human blood also known as vampirism. Lunacy has been said to cause mental illness in humans and the behaviors of these individuals can be

characterized   as cluster A erratic behaviors and cluster B behaviors. Cluster A behaviors have paranoid personality and schizoid personality. Cluster B behaviors have narcissistic personality and histrionic personality.   Research says that hospitals get more admissions from people with these types of personalities.

Some research supports the idea of the moon having an effect on human behavior “Hormonal reactions to increased positive ions in the air (Full Moon Effect) cause hyperactivity, depression, violent behavior, road rage, higher occurrences of migraines and asthma” (Soyka 39). The body is made up from 80% water, the phases of the moon effects the tides. In a...