There is a belief that in the full moon people often turn to hospitals (primarily psychiatric), fall asleep worse, become more aggressive and prone to suicide. We decided to check if this is confirmed by statistics.
About threats to health related to the influence of the phases of the moon, Report Not only Esoteric projects And yellow pressbut also Russian -speaking news aggregators From the most different countries, as well as popular female Blogs. In magazines Vogue And L’OFICIL You can read not only articles on the influence of the full moon on the mood and mental state of people, but also instructions on how to fall asleep into this phase of the moon. The topic does not bypass even some sites dedicated to Cooking.
Full moon - This is the phase of the moon that occurs when the earth is between the moon and the sun. Since the satellite of our planet does not radiate its own light, but reflects sunny, depending on the provisions of these three celestial bodies, the observer on Earth will see the reflected light in different ways. In the full moon, the sun's rays completely illuminate the side of the moon facing the planet, and therefore it looks like a perfectly round disc that shines brightly in the night sky.
Since ancient times, the full moon was of great importance for people. It served as a guideline in the preparation of calendars and helped in planning agricultural work. From the phase of the moon depend Also, tides and tides are a change in the water level in the oceans due to gravitational attraction of the satellite. The full moon was also associated with many myths and legends. For example, some believed that at this time werewolves go hunting, and people become more emotional or prone to madness.
In 2017, a group of American scientists Analyzed The frequency of exacerbations in 1857 patients of one psychiatric clinic older than 17 years and the relationship of such episodes with the lunar cycle. It turned out that in the full moon of situations requiring an emergency assistance, there were few less than the rest of the phases. However, the difference is too insignificant to make reliable conclusions.
In 2019, these observations were confirmed by another group of researchers from the USA. They Studied The number of hospitalizations and exacerbations in patients already undergoing treatment for almost a five -year period. In statistics, in particular, cases of increasing aggression and increased excitement were recorded. Then they compared the collected data with the graphs of changes in the phases of the moon and solar eclipses. It turned out that, contrary to expectations, in the full moon and periods of eclipse, the frequency of exacerbations decreased (but, as in an earlier study, it is not enough to count the results with indicative).
The influence of the full moon on the behavior of people and Swiss experts did not record. In 2019 they Studied Records about 17 966 hospitalized in a local psychiatric hospital. According to the conclusions of the researchers, the frequency of hospitalizations is not higher in the full moon than in other periods, and in patients who entered the healthcare institution in this phase, the duration of treatment did not exceed a similar indicator in other patients.
Earlier, in 2005, German psychiatrists Compared With the phases of the moon, data on 3054 suicides did not find the patterns between the lunar cycle and the frequency of suicides. Researchers only noted that on hoarse nights men under 40 years old more often prefer to pass away, for example, having accepted the poison, and not shot. However, this difference, as in most previous cases, was on the verge of statistical error.
Large meta -analyzes, generalizing the results of individual observations, also did not reveal any special influence of the moon on people's behavior. Having analyzed 37 published and unpublished research, specialists of the American Psychological Association Not found The laws between the phase of the lunar cycle and the frequency of mental exacerbations requiring hospitalization, suicide, murders and other violent crimes. Canadian scientists Included In their sample 20 studies on committed suicides, unsuccessful attempts to die and threats to do this. They also did not find connections with the lunar cycle.
At the same time, in 2019, an unusual case was described in the United States: a 67-year-old patient with bipolar affective disorder of episodes (manic / hypomanic and depressive) synchronized With a lunar cycle against the background of taking a certain drug of lithium and an increased level of thyroid -stroke hormone. After a change in the drug, normalizing the level of the hormone and a flutter course, a connection with the phases of the moon disappeared. Scientists found it difficult to explain the nature of such a coincidence.
In 2019, Simo Nyahya, a scientist from Finnish University Oulu, Studied, can the phases of the moon affect the frequency of murders. He analyzed 6808 such crimes committed in 1961–2014, and found out that in the full moon their number was 15% less than on the new moon, and the difference between the number of murders in the brightest and most dark apartment of the cycle amounted to 86%. The scientist did not explain such a pattern. However, it can be assumed that the activity of criminals is not associated with the mysterious influence of the satellite, but with the level of illumination - the higher it is at night, the more difficult it is to attack. In 1999, scientists from the University of California put forward The hypothesis that, before the appearance of modern lighting devices, was the main source of light at night and thereby influenced the cycle of sleep and wakefulness, as a rule, causing lack of sleep during the full moon. He, in turn, could contribute to exacerbation of mania / hypomania in susceptible patients with bipolar disorder and convulsions in patients with convulsive disorders. Researchers suggested that this was the basis of the belief about the connection of the full moon and mental disorders. True, checking this hypothesis in conditions of modern artificial night lighting is extremely problematic.
However, in 2021, such an attempt was made by a team of scientists from the USA and Argentina. They Compared The quality and duration of night sleep among Americans in large cities and living without access to electricity representatives of the South American Toba nation. On lunar nights, both studied groups fell asleep later and slept less. Similar data Received and Swiss researchers who conducted an experiment with the participation of 33 volunteers. The participants did not know that scientists were interested in the influence of the moonlight on the quality of sleep, and in order to negate the influence of illumination, the volunteers spent nights in a special room completely isolated from the light. Researchers recorded the time required for falling asleep, the duration of sleep and its quality (or rather, the duration deep sleep). In the days of the full moon, the participants fell asleep for 5 minutes. longer, slept for 20 minutes. Less, and the phase of deep sleep decreased by 30%.
Otherwise, as studies show, the full moon affects a person slightly. Although there is beliefthat childbirth occurs more often on the full moon, scientific data do not confirm this. Francisco Marco-Kharsia, historian from South Africa, Analyzed Data on 23,689 births from 1810 to 1929, for this period, 1484 lunar cycles accounted for. It turned out that in the days of the full moon there were as many births as in other phases of the moon. Japanese scientists provided a more recent array of data - they examined Records for 1996-2007 in one of the hospitals in the Prefecture of Fukuok in the south of the country. In total, the study used statistics on 1507 births, the authors excluded premature children and stimulated births from the sample. Scientists did not find the connection between the frequency of births and the lunar cycle, but noted that in the full moon, as well as the previous and subsequent days, the children more often were born in the evening and night, and in the new moon - during the day. Researchers suggest that the human body has evolved to the level of lighting and spontaneous birth more often occur when it is enough, that is, in lunar nights or in the afternoon.
From the available scientific data it follows that the guests of the nursing homes suffer From excitement during the full moon, even slightly less often than in other phases of the lunar cycle, although this difference is not statistically significant. At this time No A surge of appeals for psychological help due to anxiety or depression. Transport incidents, like Show Studies do not happen more often on the full moon. In this phase of the moon, people are no more often They are subjected attacks with the use of stupid or piercing-cutting objects, as well as firearms than in others. Not fixed and an increase in the number of appeals for medical help due to dog bites, and increased increase cases of overdose drugs.
Thus, although studies show that in the full moon people sleep a little worse, it almost does not affect other aspects of life. Scientists do not record the connections between the phases of the moon and depression, anxiety or aggression, the frequency of murders and other violent crimes, an accident, suicides and overdose. People with a mental diagnosis during the full moon do not become more prone to exacerbations, and if they get into hospitals at this time, spend as much time there as patients who needed hospitalization in other phases of the lunar cycle.
Image on the cover: Pxhere
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