Myth, legends and folklore all have stories about strange and mysteries happenings that occur around the time of the full moon. The common tale is of course the curse of the werewolf. A legend most do not believe, but love to watch in old B rated classic movies.
It is interesting how nurses and emergency room staff of hospitals all say that a full moon brings out the crazies and weirdos! Many people swear that the full moon brings out the worst in human nature.It is said more premature births happen during a full moon and more women get pregnant during this lunar phase.
The full moon appears every 29.53 days and aggressive behavior, suicides, accidents, crimes, violence, depression, psychosis, drug overdoses and animal bites are said to be higher just before during and just after this lunar cycle. But the statistics do not always make it so. Supposedly more violent crimes occur during a full moon.
All types of studies have been conducted about the “Lunar Effect” on animal and human behavior. Unfortunately the studies do not show a direct correlation between the lunar cycles and increased crazy or violent behavior.
They do not seem to show any patterns or consistency concerning the full moon and animal or human behavior
One thing that is true about the full moon is that people have been holding celebrations and rituals regarding the occurrence for centuries. The observances many times led to wild festivals of debauchery and mischievousness. These traditions and pagan worship practices still linger with residual effects in the modern world. Plus the media has exacerbated the issue with strange “news stories” on or around the full moon event. It may sell newspapers and make a good story for the nightly news broadcast, but the full moon causing any of the outlandish things reported is most likely far from the truth.
The effects of the full moon on sanity or insanity is spoken about every time something strange happens around the time of the full moon, yet there is very little data to support a belief that strange things happen more often during a full moon than any other time. Our belief that the full moon causes violence or mental illnesses is rooted more in what psychologists call “communal reinforcement” of “cognitive biases”. In other words you believe things are true if you hear it repeated many times and passed down through generations.a traditional belief or a family legend.
Science can not prove that the full moon affects are impacting human nature in the way legends and myths explicate. Then again, belief in something does not always need a scientific explanationdoes it?
