Effect of Full moon and New moon on Psychiatric illnesses

1. Effect of Full moon and New moon on Psychiatric illnesses Dr. Aziz Ahmed Quadri, Director of Mental Health Center, Aurangabad, M.S. Dr. SnehaKarmani, DNB 2nd year, Mental Health Center, Aurangabad, M.S.

2. Introduction: The superstitions about the moon’s 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.

3. 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there are anecdotal evidences of someone getting violent on a full moon, or disappearing in a fugue or becoming withdrawn on a new moon.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.

4. 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."

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Spiritual science: There are some finer differences between the effect of new moon and full moon on man.

14. New moon effect More on the mind. More intangible (subtle). 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. Between new moon and full moon the effects of new moon are less noticeable to us.

15. Ion theory Ions have an effect on body’s 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).

16. 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).

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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

20. Moon’s effect on water The full moon’s ­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 doesn’t hold true.

21. 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 moon’s 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 moons—when the moon is invisible to us—as it is during full moons.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

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

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

27. Marital status: • There wasn’t much difference between marital status of candidates and belief in lunar effect.

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

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

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

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

32. Type of family: • There was not much difference between belief in lunar effect in patients coming from joint or nuclear families.

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

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

37. 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

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

39. 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

40. Effect of T/t on symptoms • 92% of patients believed that treatment had decreased their symptoms

41. Whether symptoms were same or different? • Most of them perceived the same symptoms as that of their primary psychiatric symptomatology during the full moon/ new moon.

42. 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.

43. Severity concurrent with the lunar phase: • 100% patients (yes responders) believed symptom severity increased with full moon/ new moon.

44. 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)]

45. 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.

46. 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 Skeptic’s Dictionary.

47. 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

48. 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 people’s 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.

49. Instead of directly studying the moon’s 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.

50. THANK YOU