More Info on LunaticSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
other uses: "Loony" redirects here. For the Canadian 1 dollar coin (loonie), see Canadian 1 dollar coin . Or see Looney (disambiguation) or Luni (disambiguation) .
" Lunatic " is an informal term referring to people who are considered Mental disorder|mentally ill , dangerous, Foolishness|fool ish or unpredictable; conditions once called lunacy . The term may be considered insulting in serious contexts, though is sometimes used in friendly jest. The word derives from lunaticus meaning "of the moon" or "moonstruck".
Lunar hypothesis
Philosophers such as Aristotle and Pliny the Elder argued that the full Moon induced insanity in susceptible individuals, believing that the brain, which is mostly water, must be affected by the Moon and its power over the tides, but the Moon's gravity is too slight to affect any single person.Cite web|title=Lunacy and the Full Moon|publisher=Scientific American|year=2009|first1 =Scott O.|last1= Lilienfeld|first2 = Hal|last2 = Arkowitz |url= http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm? id=lunacy-and-the-full-moon|accessdate=13 April 2010 Even today, people insist that admissions to psychiatric hospitals, traffic accidents, homicides or suicides increase during a full Moon, although there is no scientific evidence to support such claims.
In a 1999 Journal of Affective Disorders article, a hypothesis was suggested that the phase of the moon may in the past have had an effect on individuals with bipolar disorder by providing light during nights which would otherwise have been dark, and affecting susceptible individuals through the well-known route of sleep deprivation. http://www.jad-journal.com/article/S0165-0327%2899%2900016-6/abstract The Moon and madness reconsidered Journal of Affective Disorders , June, 1999 With the introduction of electric light , this effect would have gone away, as light would be available every night, explaining the negative results of modern studies. The authors suggested ways in which this hypothesis might be tested.
Use of the term "lunatic" in legislation
In England and Wales the Lunacy Acts 1890 - 1922 referred to lunatics, but the Mental Treatment Act 1930 changed the legal term to "Person of Unsound Mind", an expression which was replaced under the Mental Health Act 1959 by mental illness . "Person of unsound mind" was the term used in 1950 in the English version of the European Convention on Human Rights as one of the types of person who could be deprived of liberty by a judicial process. The 1930 act also replaced Psychiatric hospital|Asylum with Psychiatric hospital|Mental Hospital . Criminal Lunatics became Broadmoor Patients in 1948 under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947|National Health Service Act
Lunar distance
The term lunatic was also used by supporters of John Harrison and his marine chronometer method of determining longitude to refer to proponents of the Method of Lunar Distances , advanced by Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne . Citation needed|date=May 2008 Later, members of the Lunar Society of Birmingham called themselves lunaticks . In an age with little street lighting, the society met on or about the night of the full moon.Citation needed|date=May 2008
See also
Bethlem Royal Hospital|Bedlam
Broadmoor Hospital
Mental disorder
Euphemism
References
reflist
cite journal |last=Riva |first=M. A. |authorlink= |coauthors=Tremolizzo, L.; Spicci, M.; Ferrarese, C.; De Vito, G.; Cesana, G. C.; Sironi, V. A. |year=2011 |month=January |title=The Disease of the Moon: The Linguistic and Pathological Evolution of the English Term "Lunatic" |journal= Journal of the History of the Neurosciences |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=65–73 |doi=10.1080/0964704X.2010.481101 |url= |accessdate= |quote=
External links
Wiktionary
http://www.mhsource.com/expert/exp1010504e.html Does the full moon have any effects on mood? (cites research studies: 2 negative, 1 positive)
Raison CL, Klein HM, Steckler M. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi? cmd=Retrieve& db=PubMed& list_uids=10363673& dopt=Abstract The moon and madness reconsidered. J Affect Disord. 1999 April; 53(1):99-106
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/6723911.stm Crackdown on lunar-fuelled crime - BBC News , 5 June 2007
Category:Obsolete medical terms Category:Pejorative terms for people Category:Historical and obsolete mental and behavioural disorders Category:Insanity
