Effect of Full moon and New moon on Psychiatric illnesses

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Effect of Full moon and New moon on Psychiatric
illnesses

• Dr. Aziz Ahmed Quadri,
• Director of Mental Health Center,
• Aurangabad, M.S.
• Dr. Sneha Karmani,
• DNB 2nd year, Mental Health Center,
• Aurangabad, M.S.

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Introduction

• The superstitions about the moons effect on life
  on earth have existed for centuries.
• We often hear someone say, Is there a full moon
  around?
• As an educated person one would rubbish such a
  thought, or simply get amazed, and move on.

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Psychiatry the moon

• Often in psychiatric hospitals there are
  anecdotal evidences of someone getting violent on
  a full moon, or disappearing in a fugue or
  becoming withdrawn on a new moon.
• There are several incidences when the patients
  themselves or their family members complain of
  fluctuations in their mood or behavior around
  full moon or new moon time.

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The Lunar Effect

• The word lunatic was frequently used to denote
  mentally ill persons once upon a time, is derived
  after the Roman goddess of moon, Luna.
• The influence of the moon on behavior has been
  called "The Lunar Effect" or "The Transylvania
  Effect."

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N e w M o o n

• The original meaning of the phrase new moon was
  the first visible crescent of the Moon, after
  conjunction with the Sun.
• The astronomical new moon is sometimes known as
  the dark moon , thus on new moon day, the
  non-illuminated, i.e. dark side of the Moon faces
  towards Earth.

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N e w M o o n

• The new moon marks the beginning of the month in
  lunar calendars such as the Muslim calendar, and
  in lunisolar calendars such as the Hebrew, Hindu,
  and Buddhist calendars.
• People generally wait for new moon to start new
  works.

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F U L L M O O N

• Full moon is a lunar phase that occurs when the
  Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from
  the Sun.
• Full Moons are traditionally associated with
  temporal insomnia, insanity (hence the terms
  lunacy and lunatic) and various "magical
  phenomena" such as lycanthropy.

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F U L L M O O N

• The full moon has been linked to crime, suicide,
  mental illness, disasters, accidents, birthrates,
  fertility, and werewolves, among other things.
• Some people even buy and sell stocks according to
  phases of the moon.

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Earlier times

• Greek philosopher Aristotle and Roman historian
  Pliny the Elder suggested that the brain was the
  moistest organ in the body and thereby most
  susceptible to the pernicious influences of the
  moon, which triggers the tides.
• Belief in the lunar lunacy effect, or
  Transylvania effect, persisted in Europe
  through the Middle Ages, when humans were widely
  reputed to transmogrify into werewolves or
  vampires during a full moon.

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Present times

• Even today many people think the mystical powers
  of the full moon induce erratic behaviors,
  psychiatric hospital admissions, suicides,
  homicides, emergency room calls, traffic
  accidents, fights at professional hockey games,
  dog bites and all manner of strange events.
• One survey revealed that 45 percent of college
  students believe moonstruck humans are prone to
  unusual behaviors.

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• Another surveys suggest that mental health
  professionals may be still more likely than
  laypeople to hold this conviction.
• In 2007 several police departments in the U.K.
  even added officers on full-moon nights in an
  effort to cope with presumed higher crime rates.

• Lunacy and the Full Moon Does a full moon really
  trigger strange behavior? By Scott O. Lilienfeld
  and Hal Arkowitz   February 9, 2009  52
  Scientific American Mind.

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Spiritual science

• There are some finer differences between the
  effect of new moon and full moon on man.

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Spiritual science Finer differences between the
effect of new moon and full moon on man.

• Full moon effect
• Adverse more on the physical body
• more apparent,
• Therefore more distressing.

• New moon effect
• More on the mind.
• More intangible (subtle).

• Between new moon and full moon the effects of new
  moon are less noticeable to us.

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Ion theory

• Ions have an effect on bodys hormones and
  chemical messengers which affect the brain.
• All the air you breathe has some quantity of
  Aero-Ions.
• Ions are charged particles in the air
  (100-1000/cmm). 
• Some ions are negatively charged (Negative Ions)
  and some positively charged (Positive Ions).

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Ion theory

• Ion Scientists have determined over and over
  that an imbalance in the ratio between Positive
  and Negative Ions has a profound effect on both
  your mental and physical well being.
• If you breathe large amounts of positive ions
  without an equal amount of negative ions, you
  will actually become lethargic and in some cases
  sick (high positive ion concentrations in the air
  are associated with the full moon).

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• Air containing more negative ions and fewer
  positive ions has shown to be beneficial and
  without side effects.
• 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.  Even bees
  are known to sting without provocation on higher
  positive ion ratios.

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• 75 of  the general population react favorably to
  negative ions but are adversely affected by
  positive ions, while the other 25 react in the
  opposite way, finding higher positive ion days
  euphoric and higher negative ion days boring. 
  These people compensate for the stress caused by
  positive ions with sufficient adrenaline
  production.

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• In other words, 75 of the general population
  goes into different ranges of depression and 25
  become hyperactive. We are all affected somewhat
  by higher positive ion ratios. There are no side
  effects from negative ions

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Moons effect on water

• The full moons supposed effects on behavior
  arise from its influence on water as the human
  body is 80 water (Miami psychiatrist Arnold
  Lieber) perhaps the moon works its mischievous
  magic by somehow disrupting the alignment of
  water molecules in the nervous system.
• But there are at least three reasons why this
  explanation doesnt hold true.

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• the gravitational effects of the moon are far too
  minuscule to generate any meaningful effects on
  brain activity, let alone behavior. a mosquito
  sitting on our arm exerts a more powerful
  gravitational pull on us than the moon does.
• The moons gravitational force affects only open
  bodies of water, such as oceans and lakes, but
  not contained sources of water, such as the human
  brain.
• The gravitational effect of the moon is just as
  potent during new moonswhen the moon is
  invisible to usas it is during full moons.

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To find out the correlation between phases of the
moon and symptoms of psychiatric patients.

• A total of 200 psychiatric in-patients and
  out-patients were interviewed.

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Methodology

• History was reviewed in brief. Patients were
  assigned to ICD-10 broad categories as per the
  diagnosis.
• Reported change in symptoms/severity with respect
  to full moon and new moon or peri- full moon and
  peri-new moon was recorded as per the
  pre-designed questionnaire.

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• The questionnaire consisted of basic
  socio-demographic data, along with questions
  probing into the details of diagnosis, duration
  of illness and treatment.
• It later included questions on effect of full
  moon and new moon as perceived by patients and
  their family members.

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Age group
Age group Yes respondents Yes respondents No/ dont know No. of respondents
10-20 15 (37.5) 25 40
21-30 26 (32.5) 54 80
31-40 15 (28.84) 37 52
41-50 4 (22.22) 14 18
50-70 4 (40) 6 10
total 64 64 136 200

• People over 50 years were more likely to hold
  such beliefs than patients in other age groups.

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Sex
Sex Yes Yes No/ dont know No. of respondents
Male 28 (20.74) 107 135
Female 36 (42.35) 49 85
Total 64 64 136 200

• Females were twice as likely as males to believe
  in lunar effect.

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Marital status
Marital status Yes Yes No/ dont know No. of respondents
divorced 1 20 4 5
Engaged 1 24 3 4
married 44 34.92 82 126
Separated 3 33.33 6 9
unmarried 15 30 35 50
widow 0 0 6 6
Total 64 64 136 200

• There wasnt much difference between marital
  status of candidates and belief in lunar effect.

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Education
Education Yes Yes No/ Dont know No. of respondents
Illiterate 10 55.55 8 18
Pre-primary 0 0 1 1
Primary 8 34.78 15 23
Secondary 29 31.52 63 92
Higher secondary 10 27.02 27 37
Graduation 6 28.57 15 21
Post-graduation 1 12.5 7 8
Total 64 64 136 200

• Prevalence was highest in the illiterate, with
  decrease in such beliefs seen with increasing
  education levels

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Religion

• Such belief was slightly more common in Hindus
  than Muslims, followed by Buddhists.

Religion No of yes respondents No of yes respondents No/ dont know No of respondents
Buddhist 3 23.07 10 13
Hindu 23 33.33 46 69
Christian 0 0 1 1
Muslim 38 32.47 79 117
Others 0 0 0 0
total 64 64 136 200
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Occupation

• Patients from labor class were more likely to
  have such a belief, followed by farmers,
  housewives and students.

Occupation No. of Yes respondents No. of Yes respondents No/ dont know No. of respondents
Business 2 16.66 10 12
Farming 8 34.78 15 23
Labour 13 50 13 26
Professional 1 14.28 6 7
Retired 0 0 2 2
Unemployed 4 26.66 11 15
housewife 30 31.91 64 94
student 5 31.25 11 16
others 1 20 4 5
total 64 64 136 200
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Residence

• Patients from rural population were slightly more
  likely than urbanites to believe in the lunar
  effect.

Residence Yes respondents Yes respondents No/ dont know No. of respondents
Rural 40 35.08 74 114
Urban 24 27.90 62 86
Total 64 64 136 200
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Type of family

• There was not much difference between belief in
  lunar effect in patients coming from joint or
  nuclear families.

Type of Family No. of Respondents No. of Respondents No/ dont know No. of Respondents
Nuclear 29 32.22 61 90
Joint 35 31.81 75 110
Total 64 64 136 200
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Social class

• Patients from below poverty line had highest
  percentage of such beliefs, followed by lower
  middle class and poor patients

Social Class No. Of yes Respondents No. Of yes Respondents No/ dont know No. Of Respondents
Upper High 0 0 0 0
High 0 0 1 1
Upper middle 7 18.42 31 38
Lower middle 34 35.41 62 96
Poor 20 33.33 40 60
BPL 3 60 2 5
Total 64 64 136 200
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Diagnostic categories
Code ICD-10 Category No. of Yes Respondents No. of Yes Respondents No/ dont know No. of Respondents
F10-F19 Mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use 5 71.42 2 7
F20-F29 Schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders 35 32.71 72 107
F30-F39 Mood (affective) disorders 16 26.66 44 60
F40-F48 Neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders 7 31.81 15 22
F50-F59 Behavioral syndromes associated with physiological disturbances and physical factors 0 0 2 2
F90-F98 Behavioral and emotional disorders with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence 1 50 1 2
Total 64 64 136 200

• Majority patients with substance-related
  disorders held such beliefs, followed by
  childhood/ adolescent disorders, followed by
  schizophrenia and neurotic disorders

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Effect of moon No of respondents
Yes 64
No 103
Dont know 33
Total 200
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Difference noticed by No. of Respondents
Patient 16
Family members/Care-givers 22
Both Patient Care-givers 26
Total 64
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Noticed fluctuation in emotion and behavior prior
to illness

• Most of the patients noticed the lunar effect on
  their behavior/ emotion after onset of their
  illness

Noticed fluctuation in emotion and behavior prior to illness No. of Respondents
Yes 6
No 58
Total 64
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Duration of illness
Duration of illness No. of Respondents No. of Respondents No/ dont know No. of Respondents
Less than 6months 9 34.61 17 26
gt6months lt 1year 8 32 17 25
gt1year lt 3years 16 36.36 28 44
gt3 years 31 29.52 74 105
Total 64 64 136 200

• There was no significant difference between
  duration of illness and such beliefs.

.
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Regular on t/t and Follow up

• People who were not regular on T/t and F/up were
  more likely to hold such beliefs.
• Probably their belief in same could contribute to
  the irregularity seen in T/t

Regular on t/t and Follow up Yes response Yes response No/ Dont know No. of respondents
Yes 58 31.69 125 183
No 6 35.29 11 17
Total 64 64 136 200
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Effect of T/t on symptoms

• 92 of patients believed that treatment had
  decreased their symptoms

Effect of t/t on symptoms No. of Respondents
Increased with t/t 0
Decreased with t/t 59 (92.18)
No effect of t/t on symptoms 3
This was patients first visit 2
Total 64
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Whether symptoms were same or different?
Symptoms are No. of Respondents
Same 61
Different 2
Same, with new/different symptoms 1
Total 64

• Most of them perceived the same symptoms as
  that of their primary psychiatric symptomatology
  during the full moon/ new moon.

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Frequency of perceived change

• 1/3rd reported a change with every cycle, 1/3rd
  with most cycles and 1/3rd patients with
  occasional cycles only.

Frequency of perceived change No. of Respondents
Occasional cycles only 21
Most Cycles 21
Almost every lunar cycle 22
Total 64
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Severity concurrent with the lunar phase

• 100 patients (yes responders) believed symptom
  severity increased with full moon/ new moon.

Severity as perceived by Yes Respondents No. of Respondents
More Severe 64
No change 0
Total 64
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Studies showing a positive correlation

• 18,495 records from patients admitted to a
  psychiatric hospital in an 11-year period
  admissions for psychosis were highest during the
  new moon and lowest during the full moon.
  Reference Lunar madness an empirical study
  (1977)
• 25,568 psychiatric emergency room visits in a
  13-year period visits increased near the first
  quarter moon and a decreased around the new moon
  and full moon. Reference Human aggression and
  the lunar synodic cycle (1978)

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• Psychologists, however, have found that there is
  no strong evidence for effects on human behavior
  around the time of a full moon.
• They find that studies are generally not
  consistent, with some showing a positive effect
  and others showing a negative effect.

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• Kelly, Rotton, and Culver suspect four factors
• Media effects,
• Folklore and tradition,
• Misconceptions, and
• Cognitive biases. 
• A fifth factor should be considered, as well
• Communal reinforcement
• The media perpetuate lunar myths.

Full moon and lunar effects The Skeptics
Dictionary.
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• 76,065 calls to a crisis center in a 4-year
  period increased calls by females during the new
  moon period decreased calls by males during the
  new moon period. Reference Sex difference in
  response to stress by lunar month a pilot study
  of four years' crisis-call frequency. (2003)

Moonstruck! Does The Full Moon Influence
Behavior? washington.edu/ neuroscience for kids
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Why the association between craziness and the
moon?

• It is an ancient science that has not been
  replaced with the newer theories.
• The moon, however, holds no sway in the
  scientific prospective of the world, but in
  peoples minds,
• It functions as such a key figure that it would
  be foolish to say the full moon completely and
  utterly lacks control over events.

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• Instead of directly studying the moons influence
  on the world, the power of common belief should
  be investigated
• When people feel the same way about something,
  they create a large enough mental influence that
  they can sometimes will the event they imagine
  into a reality.

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