Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Does A Full Moon Affect Your Sleep?



Does the Moon Affect How You Sleep?



When there's a full moon are you more restless, finding it difficult to sleep well? If you answered yes, you're not alone. But it's just not true. (I beg to differ)............



Even though popular belief has long held that a full moon interferes with a good night's sleep, Austrian scientists have shown that sleep patterns are not affected by the phases of the moon.


Without fail, when the moon is full, one can look on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media site - or message board - and find mom after mom, dad after dad, complaining that their children are having trouble sleeping. Either they are waking up with nightmares or are so wired that they are wide awake and unable to sleep. They aren't alone. Many adults have trouble too.


Hence.............my blogging at this hour! I woke up suddenly at 1:30 and could not go back to sleep. I really didn't even think about the full moon thing until I glanced outside at around 4AM and saw the large glaring moon staring back at me. It certainly does makes a person wonder.


Full moons are traditionally associated with temporal insomnia, insanity (hence the terms lunacy and lunatic) and various "magical phenomena." How comforting! I do remember many years ago when I was a young nursing student spending time in a mental health hospital and how bizarre things would become on full moons!


I did manage to watch and old movie on Turner Classics that I had not seen before. 80,000 Suspects! I had never even heard of this little jewel and I love old movies! It's a 1963 British film and a romantic melodrama set against the backdrop of a smallpox epidemic which features Richard Johnson as the diligent doctor in control and Claire Bloom as his outwardly serene and devoted wife. And who doesn't love Claire Bloom?

No comments: