Full Moon Madness is real

IIf you have ever wondered if the lunar effect is real and if the full moon caused some people to act out, let me assure you that it is not an old wives tale. I realize there are those who may disagree because evidence is not conclusive. Various police departments throughout the United States have conducted studies on crime rates during the full moon and the results are conflicting. Some locals reported an uptic in criminal behavior while others did not. When it comes to full moon madness, there is medical evidence as well as personal testimonies that outway the naysayers and validates this lunar occurrence.

When I was in my late teens there were times my middle brother would become anxious, intimidating and often lash out at our youngest brother. Our grandmother would always say that the moon had changed. We laughed about it and watched this play out but never took it seriously. When I worked in a Long Term Care facility, there were patients who were unable to get around very well yet during a fuull moon they would get out of bed and begin walking around. The nurses would give some residents their prescribed sleeping medication but they would not sleep when the moon was full. They would become restless and some would call for help into the wee hours of the morning.

Over the decades I’ve had a number nurses and ER workers to say that things get crazy during a full moon. Don’t take my word for it just read the following statistics from medical personnel. Many ER physicians, including AOA President John W. Becher, DO, have stated that “full moon madness” is a real phenomenon. Dr. Becher, has practiced emergency medicine for close to 40 years, and shared his experiences as chairman of emergency services at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Belcher said that he has seen more unusual things happen during a full moon.is full, He added that every time there was a fulll moon the 11 bed psychiatric emergency center adjacent to the hospital emergency center would be overflowing.Eric Moon, DO, is an emergency room physician at St. Bernard Hospital in Chicago, who has worked exclusively during the night shift since he first started practicing 12 years ago.

He went on record as saying he does not believe there is more activity in the emergency room during a full moon than at any other time.He believes that it’s the nature of the Emergency room to have eventful nights no matter what phase the moon is in. He did add that whenever the moon was full that his coworkers would comment that they were in for an eventful night. In spite of skeptics lukeDr. Moon there are other medical personnel who say that full moon madness is very real.

In 2011 a study was published in the World Journal of Surgery on the subject. The results were that more than 40% of medical staff admitted to believing that lunar phases can and do affect human behavior in spite of the fact that most studies found no direct correlation between Hospital admission rates and a full moon. Paul J. Allegretti, DO, heads the emergency medicine residency at Midwestern University/Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. He says he could never prove it but he believes more people become ill and there is an increase in strange occurrences during a full moon. and it seems like more unusual things happen when the moon is full.

Everyone has their own opinion regarding this strange phenomenon but the evidence is mounting in favor of it being real. If you have ever noticed people behaving strangely during certain times of the month, just check the calendar or look outside to see what phase the moon is in. Even if no one else noticed and you are not believed just know that there are numerous witnesses who can validate that the lunar effect is very real.