FULL MOON ON THE RISE

Has anyone else noticed that when there is a full moon every wacko seems to feel the need to get behind the wheel of a car? Invariably during a full moon every idiot under the sun (or moon) appears to be on the road.

Sometimes when I'm out running errands or driving to meet someone, I'll notice that other vehicles get way too close to me - almost like there is a magnet attached to the side of my car. Suddenly someone will decide to make a right turn from the left lane without first checking to see if it is clear. Next thing I know drivers are pulling over in front of me (causing me to hit the brakes) to go around some dingdong going 30 in the 45 mile per hour zone.

After about the 3rd or 4th incident, it dawns on me - it must be a full moon or it's fast approaching. And, damned if I'm not right when I check the calendar. I don't know what it is that brings out the crazies when the moon is full. But it certainly does seem that way. I mean, hey, the term lunatic does come from lunar, right?

I decided to do a little Googling to see if anyone else feels that a full moon unleashes all sorts of bizarre behavior. Boy, do they ever! There are all kinds of opinions, articles & studies regarding the full moon's effects on our bodies. I looked at several sources & here's what I found.

The first site began with this statement: "People have theorized for thousands of years that the moon has all kinds of impacts on us. It affects fertility, crime rates, dog attacks, and increases blood loss during surgery. It must be a full moon, they say. Full moon tomorrow night! All the crazies will be out!" 

Another website had a similar thought: "The full moon is a pretty popular scapegoat for bad luck and bizarre behavior. Encounter someone acting strangely? Blame it on the lunar phases! It’s said that crime rates increase and emergency rooms are much busier during the full moon. (Plus, there’s that whole werewolf thing!) Why would this be? The reasoning is that the moon, which affects the ocean’s tides, probably exerts a similar effect on us, because the human body is made mostly of water."

Alright, this was all pretty much what I've concluded over the years & the human body being mostly water theory made perfect sense to me.

BUT then I continued reading: "For years, some who work in police and emergency services (such as doctors and nurses) have anecdotally claimed that full moon nights are busier, crazier, and more dangerous than nights when the moon is dim. This perception may be rooted more in psychology than reality. The facts do not corroborate this viewpoint."

It was the Farmer's Almanac that pretty much blew my theory out of the water: "Science has taken the question of the full moon’s effects seriously enough that there have been a number of studies examining the various claims. Nearly all of them have come up empty, though. All have either found no correlation between the moon and human behavior, or were later debunked by other studies that questioned their methods.

"So why the persistent belief, purportedly even among emergency room personnel and police, in the power of the full moon to bring on crazy behavior? One hypothesis, posed in a 1999 issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders, suggested that sleep deprivation, caused by the brightness of the full moon, might have worsened existing mental disorders. Once electric lights were invented, the authors said, the effect was negated, which is why modern studies have found no correlation."

There you have it. The general consensus is that the full moon has no effect on human behavior. I couldn't find one scientific study that confirms a correlation between the full moon & demented behavior. Hmmmm - I don't know about you, but I'm not buying it.