We’re wondering, what’s your excuse?

When you’ve made a mistake, or done something weird, have you ever been tempted to place the blame on something, or someone else? If so, you’re not alone. It starts at an early age. We’ve all experienced seeing children do something wrong and refuse to take responsibility for the problem by passing the buck to something, or someone else. The classic is, “The dog ate my homework”.

Years ago, there was a popular comedian on television by the name of Flip Wilson. He played a series of characters. One of them was a feisty woman named Geraldine. Geraldine was always walking the fine line between right and wrong. Whenever she got caught crossing the line, she always had a ready excuse – “The devil made me do it.” Perhaps you remember watching her give that excuse.

There’s something else that people have historically blamed for bizarre, or unusual  behavior, depending on when it happens. Can you guess what it is? It’s the moon, particularly a full moon. How often have we heard people say, or maybe you even say, “It must be a full moon” when we observe, or hear about, strange or unusual behavior. Even Aristotle hypothesized that a full moon could induce ‘madness’. After all, the word “lunatic” stems from the Latin lunaticus meaning “of the moon”.

So, can the moon really stir up emotions and influence our behavior or is it just superstition? For centuries philosophers have hypothesized that since the moon can influence the tides, humans can also experience tidal shifts because the human body is about 75% water. Even some modern thinkers have explored this idea.

In the 1970s, psychiatrist Arnold Lieber, MD wrote several books, “The Lunar Effect: Biological Tides and Human Emotions” and “How the Moon Affects You: A Compelling and Controversial Book on the Moon’s Awesome Power to Affect Your Emotions and the Way You Live.” Lieber’s theory was that the moon influenced the “biological tides” in our body which could affect human behavior, thus leading to increased rates of violence.

At first glance, this idea may seem to be reasonable. However, it was dismissed rather quickly by experts. They cited that, even though the moon can influence the tides of large open bodies of water, it has no effect on a bathtub or glass of water. Therefore, they felt it could not affect the human body.

In the mid 1980s, a large meta-analysis of 37 studies conducted by researchers compared lunar cycles to instances of crimes, psychiatric issues, suicides, and crisis center calls. The results showed no correlation between a full moon and any of these occurrences.  More studies would later confirm the same results.

If science questions the correlation between a full moon and unusual human behavior, why does this supposed idea continue to persist? The answer to that question, given by several experts, is that people tend to pay greater attention to events that support their beliefs versus ones that don’t. The term for this illusionary correlation is known as ‘confirmation bias’. In other words, if something unusual occurs during a full moon, that will stick in their memory bank because it supports their belief.  Also, people remember events more than non-events.

Amy Morin, LCSW and Editor-in-Chief of Verywell Mind, puts it this way, “It may be that the expectation that things get ‘a little weird’ around a full moon actually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. People might start acting a little differently because they are supposed to act out of the ordinary.”

However, there is now a study in 2021 that found a full moon showed changes in some peoples’ sleep behavior.  Those people fell asleep later and slept less overall on the nights before a full moon. Several other recent studies appeared to show a correlation in the rhythmic mood swings of bipolar patients with certain gravitational cycles of the moon.

What about you? Do you feel cycles of the moon affect you? If so, you agree with a study where 81% of mental health professionals believed a full moon can influence a person’s life.

Ironically, there is a full moon tonight as we write this article. We walked out on our deck to peek at it. We ended up taking time to just enjoy the moon shining brightly in the dark sky.

We are reminded of the words of Mahatma Ghandi, “When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.” The moon changed our behavior tonight. We can blame the beautiful full moon as an excuse for getting to bed much too late. But it was worth it!

Chanhassen MN residents, Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center in Excelsior. Contact them at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2022 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.