For thousands of years, there have been widespread beliefs that moon cycles affect human behavior. Specifically, people around the world believe that abnormal human behavior peaks around the full moon, increasing the propensity for psychotic disorders, violence, and other deviant behavior. 1 These beliefs can be traced all the way to ancient Greece and Rome, throughout the Middle Ages, and to the present, where they are commonly found in much professional folklore, most notably for the police and the emergency and medical services. More generally, the moon and its cycles have long been considered an important factor.
