How Can the Full Moon Possibly Affect Your Mood?

Writing about the moon seems proper and fitting, when Halloween is nearly upon us. The topic of the moon and the mystic powers it contains has always been a spooky subject.

It has been said that the full moon affects your mood and it has even been connected with lunacy. As a matter of fact, the word "lunar" comes from the word "Luna", which is Latin for moon.

During this time, people were once believed to be more violent, aggressive and crazy in general. There are those who believe this is still the case.

The negative effects of the moon have even been attributed to the reason why some people walk in their sleep when the moon is full.

Ancient philosophers theorized that there is a gravitational pull on the body's fluids that make people behave strangely during the full moon.

Scientific reports indicate that "Animals follow the moon time's cues."

Given all the physical evidence to prove this, apparently, the skeptics are more accepting of these reported changes in animal life during the full moon. Acuweather went on to say this about the moon affecting animals:

"Particularly in the sea, many organisms use the moon's phases as their clock, called the circalunar clock. Animals show this through sleep patterns, synchronized reproduction and more."

Whether it's true or not, lots of people, believe that the full moon affects your mood; and some health care professionals are among them.

There have even been studies linking mental health issues with the moon's sleep altering power. One specific mental health condition that has been of particular interest is bipolar disorder.

This is because research has drawn direct connections between bipolar symptoms and the lack of adequate sleep.

So clearly, when it comes to the possibility of the moon affecting your mood, the jury is still out. In fact, you might be someone who's undecided on whether or not your personality or behavior can somehow be affected during a full moon.

Which ever way you happen to be leaning, you'll still have company with your conclusion. There are plenty of other experts who warn their colleagues to abandon beliefs they believe to be unfounded.

They feel that promoting these types of ideas about the moon's effect on a patient has an influential affect.

Why do skeptics deny the affects of the moon on human behavior?

It's not so far-fetched to believe that the moon could have some type of affect on human behavior. After all, it's been determined that a person's behavior can even be affected annually, by seasonal changes.

A recent Vocal Media article suggests:

If you feel depressed during the winter months, this just might be the reason... Typically, the symptoms start in the fall but will often continue into the winter months. SAD can be responsible for sapping your energy and cause the person to feel gloomy and even moody.

Justiss Goode

If the author's name looks familiar, it should. It was written by your's truly. I wrote that piece to make yet another point about the connection between nature and human behavior, especially during certain periods.

Right now, I can imagine some of you faint of heart men, cringing at my use of the word "periods". How dare I suggest the idea of all you manly men, experiencing certain periods of the month where your behavior is affected; involuntarily or not.

But shudder all you want; it's true that just like the seasonal disorder called SAD can affect both men and women, so can the chemical affects of the full moon.

Of course, there will always be skeptics, who don't believe any of it at all; not about the seasonal disorder, or about the adverses affects that the full moon can have on your psyche.

According to skeptics, those individuals who encourage the myths about the full moon could actually cause a "self-fulfilling prophecy". In other words, they may end up feeling the negative effects of the moon, simply because they believe they do.

Final Thoughts

If the theory of the self-fulfilling prophecy has any credibility at all, then the life lesson to be learned, would be to:

Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

Just think positive; and believe that the full moon won't affect your mood, and if it does, maybe it will be for the better.

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