[Tosspot]

Does anyone agree/find basis for the theory that people are affected by the full moon?

I find my moods are a little more labile than usual. Crying jags that come as quickly as they go which is pretty fast.
Also, I find New Moons to be the worst, especially one with astronomically high tides. I live on the water so not sure if that factors in.

[Confusedinomicon]

I don't think it affects me.

I think there is a full moon or was one?? I have felt more 'depressed' than anything.

I think it may be some kind of correlation, but no causation.

[dragonfly2]

Seeing as our bodies are more than 60 percent water (with our brains and blood being even higher), I do believe that the increased gravitational pull at new and full moons does have an effect on us. Look at how much it affects such a huge force as the tides - if the tides are pushed and pulled so much, how can our little human bodies not be affected?

Something else to consider is your menstrual cycle. Does your period follow the moon cycles? It could be that your premenstrual time of the month comes right around new moon, compounding the forces already at play. Might be worth tracking.

[Tosspot]

I've thought about that, the menstrual cycles, i've heard it called "moon time" but with all these psych meds that's a kind of patchy thing for me, especially with antipsychotics.

People must have thought it legit at one point. Moon = luna/lunar Psych hospitals = the looney bin. haha (no offense intended to anyone!)

[dragonfly2]

And let's not forget "lunatic" or "lunacy" or even some of those "moonlight madness" sales and events people have.

[Moose72]

Great thread. I am tracking my periods in an app now and I can put my moods too.

[faerie_moon_x]

I don't know if it effects me but I did notice the moon yesterday and wondered about it.

[naturalmanic]

It's been proven time and again people in general are effected by the 28 day cycle of the moon, and the yearly cycle around the sun, even if they live in areas where seasons don't change much. The word lunacy is derived from lunar, and though our society has stepped back from things natural it doesn't mean our bodies have. We are biochemical and at the mercy of prescription drugs and our environment and this illness. A lot of the studies done with or without people with mental illness posit light, temperature, time spent outside, with other people, thunderstorms, diet, and even holiday cheer changes people as far as their mood. If you want to look at electromagnetic measurements, atmospheric pressures, behavior of animals, it will give you something to think about. But why not just look at yourself?

Bipolars are seen to be more sensitive to just about everything, and if there is an effect that the moon plays or an early spring, than I'm sure we'd be the first to feel it.

I had a friend that spent 12 hrs a day/night harversting the marsh and he would spin off into mania as the tides change, and the moon effected him as well and he was a big believer in causation. And it wasn't just the atlantic ocean, or harbor tide, it was the tide around the house he grew up in on a barrier island. Since you live by the water toss spot, yeah the moon and tides may play a bigger factor than someone who lives in the mountains and has never been stargazing. Yesterday was a full moon lunar eclipse and a unique one, look it up, but I couldn't see it in my part of the country. Didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

Remember it's not just ethereal gravitational forces, water's properties of intertia, or hormones raging, those things we'll never control. You can only control yourself and do the best you can. Sure I think we're linked to the moon, but unlike a South American tree rat where all the males stop eating and drinking water and breed themselves to death over a 36 hr period during the first full moon after the Spring equinox. . .we have a measure of control and understanding.

Estrogen is the most hardcore drug endogenous to human emotion and behavior, said my abnormal psych professor, so the time of the month is something ya'll should consider for sure.

There's lots of research out there that doesn't prove much, but the best thing to do is see how the moon, the tides, the drought or even the wiring of the house your in. Collecting information is a great way to better understand bipolar so you can avoid the hospital and make the most of life. I would recommend also keeping your self in mind and not just the forces at play, consider yourself one of those forces and that no matter what may effect you, whether it be a super-sale at the mall or gamma rays from a super nova that took place thousands of years ago, you're in the driver's seat.

Good luck.