Full moon

True for me - I used to wonder why I still get moody and miserable every month despite the fact that I am now past the menopause. Then I read something about the effect of the full moon on mood and it makes sense - I expect I must have been a werewolf in a former life ....

As I said Annie I'm interested in written evidence - has this psychiatrist you speak of published any papers on the subject, or could direct me to any?

As for the MH unit where they dread each full moon - all I can say is god help the patients - no wonder MH is the cinderella service of the NHS.

Tricia - Isn't that where the word lunatic comes from - the belief that people go beserk at the time of the full moon?

I don't feel crabby, rather the reverse. A full moon brings on burst of energy that I remember happening just before my period; an overload of cleansing of stuff - chucking things out and re-defining the visual around the house. I enjoy it. Interestingly it always works and wonder why I don't do it at other times.
Perhaps a tad manic, but I get results. I've had a morning of it.

Does anyone else experience this?

No Riverwalk not in the 'Ivory Tower', a bit closer to the ground she works in the community.

At last I've got an excuse!!!!

My husband has always commented on the behaviour of people around and on the full moon. It was guaranteed that there would be an increase in crime at that time.

I definitely suffer from lunacy. I sleep badly and feel agitated and then realise that there is a full moon. We have no light pollution in our bit of Normandy and the moon feels hugely present.

I find that too mamie. We have no street lighting and the bright light of a full moon does seem to make a difference to how well I sleep.

In school we used to check the state of the moon when the kids got lively!

Pen my mother was a teacher and said the same if it was very windy!

High winds and full moons meant noisy playground and more twitchy pupils. Can't really say how staff members wdre affected!

There have been a couple of reviews of the studies into the theory. One in 1985 reviewed 37 studies and another in 1992 reviewed 20 studies. The conclusion of both reviews was there was no link and the original researchers who believed they had identified a link, had often failed to take account of variations like the days of the week on which full moon happened to fall.

My Mum used to swear the was a link though. She worked as a housing officer and thought more people would act out in the housing centre around the full moon. She'd also had this confirmed by the local police officers and the local A&E.

I think it's just one of those myths we want to believe. Maybe deep in our evolution there was and some of us feel it more than others. When I see the full moon I just think the garden will be lit up for a few nights!

I remember regulating my horrendously irregular periods by adjusting to lunar months. I didn't expect it to work,but it did!

Totally agree about some pupils being 'more lively' (one way of putting it!) during a full moon. Add in a good wind at the same time and they could be even more so. And before someone says they were 'lively' because we were expecting them to be at that time, I can assure you that that was not the case.

As a teacher years ago in a tough area of Birkenhead we knew the Full Moon affected behaviour as did wind, get the two together and it was dreadful being on yard duty.

I have heard farmers say that they plant just before a full moon.

According to the theory, plants that are sown in the few days before a full moon become stronger and more productive, and those sown as the moon is waning tend to be less so.
The moon gardeners claim that the gravitational force of the full moon affects the level of groundwater in the soil, just as it does the level of the oceans. With more water being drawn up into the soil during a full moon, any newly-sown seeds are boosted by the increased hydration.
Plants are also said to benefit from the bright light reflected from the sun by a full moon, with some believers claiming lunar changes cause distortions in the Earth’s magnetic field that can encourage or limit plant growth.

However, I can't see how it can affect the level of the oceans
Just the tides.

Yes, I have heard that about the wind, DD's friend always says the children are more naughty when it is very windy.

Jamila , yes many farmers plant according to the cycle of the moon

I don't think there is any real evidence for this at all, old wives tales.I never even notice when there is a full moon, but when I do, just think, how lovely it looks.

I think I'm more influenced, mood-wise, by a new moon. I noticed it a couple of years ago, always seem to feel down at that time!

Well the moon's gravitational effects makes a difference to the ocean tides so why not some people? But the evidence is shaky and largely anecdotal.
There has probably never been any serious scientific research, but if you think it affects you it probabaly will.

www.bbc.com/future/story/20131029-does-a-full-moon-make-people-mad

"This study got a lot of publicity, however there were only 33 people in it and even the authors were cautious about inferring too much from the results. Combining the results of multiple pieces of research in a meta-analysis is one way to ensure findings have stronger statistical foundations. US psychologists James Rotton and Ivan Kelly took this approach in 1985, combining the findings of 37 studies on the effects of the lunar cycle. They concluded it was unrelated to the numbers of psychiatric admissions, murders, car accidents, suicides and crimes"

33 people is just not enough to do a reasonable study.

Sorry to remove some magic from you. By all means go out and have a howl at the moon for me.

?The moon affects the tides, but we are people and not made of seawater.There would have to be a huge study to get real evidence.