# the full moon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 18, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927 "2008-07-18T05:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@nanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nanas)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/1 "2008-07-18T05:36:11Z")
i beg to differ on the subject of the full moon i work at a nursing home and i can tell you as a fact full moons do mess with these peoles heads especially alzheimers residents they act up all of them are climbing out of bed wanting to walk around get up there hungry they are up for any and every reason and that is only on the full moons ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/2 "2008-07-18T05:54:45Z")
[Link](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_337.html) to the column. **nanas** , do you get the same effect at new moon too? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/3 "2008-07-18T23:18:06Z")
**Nanas** , I don’t mean this to be insulting. Please read the linked article in full, think about anecdotal data and confirmation bias, and then get back to us. If you’ve got a real argument to present, it will be welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/4 "2008-07-18T23:22:33Z")
Apparently, it also causes an inability to use punctuation in certain individuals. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/5 "2008-07-19T00:42:48Z")
My experience working in residential treatment (and dormitories) is that the full moon is bright, which means more people are up and around _if_ they can see the moon _or_ can hear other people (outside or in the facility) who are up because of the moon. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/6 "2008-07-19T16:05:55Z")
My dad is in a nursing home, and I know that from my own experience - and reports from the staff there - that 'sundown effect" seems to be real. In other words, if I want to call or visit my dad and have him coherent, I’ll do so before lunch. They get loopy in the afternoon and evening (maybe because they’re just tired). Perhaps it’s just folks noticing the full moon at night but not in the daytime that is the basis for the lunar effect myth. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/7 "2008-07-21T14:33:30Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] My dad is in a nursing home, and I know that from my own experience - and reports from the staff there - that 'sundown effect" seems to be real. In other words, if I want to call or visit my dad and have him coherent, I’ll do so before lunch. They get loopy in the afternoon and evening (maybe because they’re just tired). Perhaps it’s just folks noticing the full moon at night but not in the daytime that is the basis for the lunar effect myth. [/QUOTE] “Sundowning” is indeed real, but it has nothing to do with the full moon. Sundowners sundown any night. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/8 "2008-07-21T15:20:58Z")
Just a thought. What about society before the invention of the electric ligtht bulb, when candles and oil lamps were the only artificial light source, and they were expensive, and not very bright. In those days, people depended on natural light. So, is it possible that people generally behaved differently depending on the phase of the moon? Maybe they went to bed early on dark nights, but stayed up late at the full moon. So they got less sleep, perhaps they drank more, and were cranky the next day. Does this sound plausible? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/9 "2008-07-21T15:38:30Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] Just a thought. What about society before the invention of the electric ligtht bulb, when candles and oil lamps were the only artificial light source, and they were expensive, and not very bright. In those days, people depended on natural light. So, is it possible that people generally behaved differently depending on the phase of the moon? Maybe they went to bed early on dark nights, but stayed up late at the full moon. So they got less sleep, perhaps they drank more, and were cranky the next day. Does this sound plausible? [/QUOTE] Interesting idea. People definitely took advantage of the full Moon to continue outside activities. (If you’ve ever spent a clear night out in the country away from artificial light, the Moon can light things up pretty well once your eyes adjust.) We have the Harvest Moon and the Hunter’s Moon. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/10 "2008-07-21T19:34:21Z")
The problem here is that you keep trying to _explain_ the “full moon crazies” when actual counting of police and hospital statistics shows that it simply doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-moon/456927/11 "2008-07-21T19:47:16Z")
[QUOTE=John W. Kennedy] The problem here is that you keep trying to _explain_ the “full moon crazies” when actual counting of police and hospital statistics shows that it simply doesn’t happen. [/QUOTE] True. However, the OP is commenting on nursing homes specifically, as far as I can tell. Leaving aside the larger issue of cops and ERs, and simply addressing nursing homes, we could hypothesize an effect as part of an “anti-sundowner” effect, that is, they don’t sundown, or sundown as much, because the moon comes up. That would be an interesting experiment to do - at least we can propose a mechanism based on a known phenomenon. Unfortunately, that would have them acting crazier on dark-of-moon nights. Damn.