There are many myths surrounding the effects of a full moon on humans from higher rates of insanity to our sleep cycles. But you’re wondering if any of these are actually true. A full moon occurs when the Earth is between the sun and the moon, and usually occurs about once per month. During a full moon, the moon is at its brightest because the side of the moon that faces the Earth is being fully illuminated by the sun. This causes some concerns over whether the luminosity of the moon may cause our sleep cycles to be disturbed or affected. Some believe it to be true while some aren’t so sure, so let’s take a closer look.
A study was conducted to examine the sleep activity of children during 3 moon phases, including a full moon, half moon, and new moon after the nearest full moon. They measured the nocturnal sleep time among 9 to 11 year olds from 12 different international countries using an elasticized belt. The children had to wear these belts for 24 hr per day, and the experiment went on for 7 days. The results of sleep duration between the different moon phases were significant (Chaput et al., 2016). Sleep duration was 4.9 minutes per night shorter at full moon compared with new moon (Chaput et al., 2016). This shows that a full moon does have some impact on the sleep behaviors of children; that the nocturnal sleep duration is about 5 minutes shorter around a full moon compared to the new moon or half moon phase (Chaput et al., 2016).
Although this study didn’t specifically target adults, some effects on adults were also discussed in this study. From previous studies conducted by other researchers, namely Cajochen et al. and Smith et al. They both discussed sleep duration in adults during a full moon. Cajochen et al. reported that sleep duration was reduced by 20 minutes, resulting in a decrease in sleep quality in 33 adults (Chaput et al., 2016). Smith et al. supported those findings after reporting a reduction of 25 minutes per night in 47 healthy adults tested in the laboratory (Chaput et al., 2016). There were also some other studies in other adults that didn’t have those findings; however, the 2021 studies have found that people fell asleep later and slept less overall on the nights before the full moon, so it is not entirely impossible.
Citations
Chaput, J., Weippert, M., LeBlanc, A., Hjorth, M., Michaelsen, K., Katzmarzyk, P., Tremblay, M., Barreira, V., Broyles, S., Fogelholm, M., Hu, G., Kuriyan, R., Kurpad, A., Lambert, E., Maher, C., Maia, J., Matsudo, V., Olds, T., Onywera, V., Sarmiento, O., Standage, M., Tudor-Locke, C., Zhao, P., Sjödin, A. (2016) “Are children like werewolves? full Moon and its association with sleep and activity behaviors in an international sample of children.” Frontiers in Pediatrics, vol. 4, https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2016.00024.
