Is this mad?

[ad hoc]

I almost hesitate to write this, but I'll bite the bullet and do so anyway.

Is there any evidence linking sleep patterns to the phase of the moon? I know it sounds like the worst kind of new-age nonsensical bollocks, but in our family we seem to sleep terribly when it's a full moon. I'd put it down to the subconscious, except I never know when there is a full moon until such time as I wake up (or finally give up trying to sleep) and get up and look at the calendar and discover that, yep it was indeed a full moon last night.

Just as I did this morning, for example.

Coincidence? Psycosomatic something or other? Or actually a possibility?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Is this mad?

Do you have curtains?

[Sam]

Is this mad?

On these mornings when you wake up having slept dreadfully to find the previous night was a full moon, do you ever wake up to find you're smeared in blood, or have torn your pyjamas? Is there ever a corpse or corpses nearby having been hideously butchered?

If the answer to any of the above is 'yes', I would suggest investing in a cage.

[Nefertiti2]

Is this mad?

Possibly

[Sits]

Is this mad?

Our current and previous dogs is/was a bit odder around full moon time. Not likening ad hoc to a dog obviously. Or a werewolf for that matter.

[MsD]

Is this mad?

That link doesn't work for me, but I thought it was common knowledge that the full moon affects people and animals.
No data from me, although I am sure I've read some, but loads of anecdotal evidence. Of course, "common knowledge" can be rubbish but I believe it to be true from my experience.

There is an upswing in hospital admissions, particularly from agitated mental (un)health sufferers. The word "lunatic" comes from ...etc.

My cat always gets restless on a full moon and usually stays out if it's dry .. other people say the same about their pets.

I visited my friend's father in a mental hospital yesterday, and sure enough, it was a lively weekend, and the main staff nurse was in tears.

The people in my and my bf's acquaintance (including our stalkers) who suffer from known mental health issues tend to act up. I've said jokingly after getting a phone call or poison pen email "is it a full moon?" and ... yep.

[WOM]

Is this mad?

Purely anecdotal, but friends of mine that are a cop, a paramedic and an ER doctor all report that, on full-moon nights, things go off the charts with regard to volume and level of stupidity. (The ER guy also said that, on Friday and Saturday nights, over 80% of his traffic is alcohol-related injuries.)

[ad hoc]

Is this mad?

Yes, Nef's link tends to the same idea, that nurses and doctors, who one might think would be more scientifically minded do tend to believe that full moon nights are worse - and I guess that comes - in part - from experience.

But the same link suggests that the difference in reality is not that great. Though it does seem to be present.

[Sits]

Is this mad?

Mrs. Sits works in mental health, and considers full moons a busier than average time.

[Bored Of Education]

Is this mad?

When I first met the wife, she told she was Cancerian and ruled by the moon and all that bollocks. I remember, in my naiveté, thinking that the "us having a similar amount of water as the Earth and, therefore, could be ruled by the moon" theory had some logic. Indeed, along with the reflexology one, it is still my favourite bollocks theory.

Anyway, even though it is bollocks, the wife does go a bit mental around the time of full moons. Coincidence or suggestion though

[WOM]

Is this mad?

I'm a Leo. We don't go for this astrology nonsense.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Is this mad?

I'm a Gemini, and neither of us do either.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Is this mad?

Healthcare workers and policemen regularly claim there's an upsurge of activity during a full moon.

Except when anyone studies the records, the effect curiously disappears. Confirmation bias.

Aren't there some wine nutters who swear the moon affects the taste of wine?

[MsD]

Is this mad?

Whether caused by suggestion or whatever, there's still enough of an effect for me to be (more) wary of certain people around that time.

As for the cat, there could be the fact that the full moon is good for hunting, and all the local predators will be up for it, making it something of a social occasion. Roadblock!

[Bored Of Education]

Is this mad?

Biodynamic vineyards base their planting or harvesting around the lunar phases but, yes, apparently some believe drinking it is affected by it as well

[Stumpy Pepys]

Is this mad?

Bloody hell.

Can you counteract it by covering the bottle in tinfoil? Or an antigravity crystal?

[Moonlight Shadow]

Is this mad?

You can buy full moon beer in Switzerland, a pils, brewed only one full moon nights in deepest Appenzell. Not a bad ale actually...

[Wyatt Earp]

Is this mad?

I wouldn't set much store by subjective impressions, even of (a) oneself or (b) medical staff, for reasons it would be otiose to rehearse. But the study does claim to have found some objective data.

Set against that, it's only one study, and what the mechanism might be is pretty mysterious, don't you think?

[Wyatt Earp]

Is this mad?

What Stumpy said, in other words. Sceptical, we are.

[Wyatt Earp]

Is this mad?

The Oddbins in L.'s f. Crouch End did a tasting based on that biodynamic bollocks, in which I unwittingly participated. The result was negative--no effect found--but there were still so many possible confounds that I found the whole thing massively annoying, and said so in a letter. Got quite a good, generous reply, actually.

[ad hoc]

Is this mad?

Aye me too. But it's odd.

[Bored Of Education]

Is this mad?

I am not putting myself as the proponent of those theories, by the way. They are bollocks but they don't bother me much.

[Sam]

Is this mad?

As for the animals thing... stop keeping them locked up every other night of the month. I'm not surprised the poor things go nuts when they're let out for the evening.

[Lucia Lanigan]

Is this mad?

They're fucking cool, though, full moons, and that's the main thing.

I've been listening to too much Coil recently, and they basically got good when they decided they made "lunar" music, in the 90s. They made four records inspired by equinoxes, one of which includes a track called 'Amethyst Deceivers' (they're anything but the dippy new agers any of this might suggest though). Turns out some people used to swear that if you put an amethyst in your glass of wine you wouldn't get drunk.

[hobbes]

Is this mad?

They're fucking cool, though, full moons, and that's the main thing.

Nah. No contrast or shadow, so you don't get to see much. When there's only a slice, the shadows show up all the craters, mountains and "seas" beautifully.