The Man In The Moon Is Not Making You Crazy
This article is more than 2 years old
A long time ago, it was thought that our brains were mostly water, and that this water was controlled by lunar cycles, ebbing and flowing like the tide. This belief is the root of words like lunacy and lunatic. Despite this now seeming like a patently ridiculous thought, past civilizations didn’t know any better. This is 2012, a year which some people think will be our last. It shouldn’t surprise me that people still believe the moon has these kinds of powers, but it does. I mean, current beliefs aren’t to the same extent, but enough people say, “Be careful going out tonight. It’s a full moon, you know.” Though they’re saying it habitually, they’re giving credence to the concept.
There have been plenty of studies about this subject before, all with the same conclusion, and though a few statistical anomalies have come up, most can be attributed to other causes. Regardless, this latest study comes to us from the research team of Professor Geneviève Belleville from Université Laval’s School of Psychology in Quebec. Their study was published in the journal General Hospital of Psychiatry.
They focused on patients with emergency room visits to Montreal’s Sacré-Coeur Hospital and Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis, in the dates ranging from March 2005 to April 2008. A more limited scope was placed on 771 of the patients who had chest pains that couldn’t be explained. Psych tests showed many of them suffered from panic attacks, mood disorders, and suicidal thoughts. I can’t lie, this all seems like scattershot profiling to me, even though I believe in the results.
With lunar calendars as reference points, the researchers concluded there was no link between the psychological problems of the patients and the moon’s phases. Perhaps coincidentally, the last lunar quarter saw 32% less anxiety problems. “We hope our results will encourage health professionals to put that idea to rest,” said Dr. Belleville, because apparently 80% of nurses and 64% of doctors (unsure of where these results come from) all believe in the lunar conspiracy. These are the people removing your gallbladders, people.
I think we all know of that time of the month that really makes some people crazy. Pay day.
