“Full Moon & Suicide Risk: Increase by Almost 20% for People Over 55 Years Old, Study Finds, with Bright Moonlight Suspected to Disrupt Body’s Circadian Rhythm”

2023-04-18 11:58:47

At full moon almost 20 percent more suicides

In total, there were 210 suicides within 626 days during the respective full moon weeks (0.335 per day) and 566 suicides within 2006 days outside of the full moon weeks (0.282 per day). This increased the risk of suicide by almost 20 percent during the full moon week.

A look at the age groups showed that this mainly affected people over 55 years of age. In contrast, people under the age of 30 were unaffected by the phases of the moon in terms of their risk of suicide.

In fact, ambient light plays an important role in the body’s circadian rhythm. It shapes the natural sleep-wake cycle that the entire body follows. The researchers suspect that the bright moonlight disrupts this body’s own clock, which could increase depressive symptoms.