![]() So, we get that the full moon was thought to cause people to act outside of societal norms thus turning them into ‘lunatics’. So, what replaced it? The term ‘insane’ and then subsequently ‘mental illness’ would soon be the new descriptors.Īs for lunatic, more often than not, it’s used as a slang term to express exaggerations, for anyone who seems over the top or out of control. It wasn’t long after that negative connotation that it was dropped from the medical lexicon by the end of the 19th century. ![]() However, during that time, ‘lunatic’ developed an offensive connotation as lunatic asylums (now psychiatric institutions) were used to promote the radicalization of “institutionalization being the correct solution to treating people considered to be ‘mad’. By the 19th century, ‘lunacy’ found its way into the American medical lexicon with the development of modern psychiatry where it transformed to the word ‘lunatic’. In English, ‘lunacy’ first appeared around the 13th and 14th centuries in texts and poems. The idea of lunacy or a lunatic came to be because folks started saying people were periodically insane with the changes of the moon. Where did that word come from and why? Well, it hails from the Latin and French root word luna which means moon. Pretty freaky right! ETYMOLOGY (OR ORGINS) OF LUNACY So when there’s a full moon and something decidedly odd happens, we usually notice it, tell others about it, and remember it (mostly because those “co-occurrences” fit with the different perceptions we all have). Illusory correlations mainly result, in part, from our mind’s propensity or tendency to entertain and recall most events better than things we haven’t experienced/non-events. The man’s conclusion about rude people is from his perception and false belief that a relationship exists between two variables (behavior and where people live). With this erroneous perception in place, when he finally meets someone who is rude, he assumes the person must be from the city, rather than a rural area. Say a man holds the belief that people in urban environments tend to be rude. Needless to say, it made for colorful spooky tales, endless sci-fi tv, movies, and of course, costumes for days.Įven today, these beliefs still persist due to a phenomenon that University of Wisconsin–Madison psychologists Loren and Jean Chapman termed “illusory correlation”, the perception of an association that does not, in fact, exist. Through the Middle Ages and throughout Europe, the belief persisted so much so that they seemed to take on a life all their own with storytellers proclaiming humans were transforming into werewolves during a full moon. Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder believed that madness and epilepsy were caused by the Moon, as the brain was the “moistest” organ in the body and thereby most susceptible to its so-called influences. That phrase sound eerily familiar? Well, it’s been used as an attempt to explain the weird happenings that come alive at night so much so that it’s created this belief that there are “mystical” powers of the full moon that induce erratic behavior-something that dates back thousands of years. ![]() It’s that time again! Halloween is just around the corner…you know when things go bump in the night, decorations spring up high and low, full moons take on an ominous glow, spooky costumes come out to play, and candy dishes get filled all day? This can only mean one thing-it’s time for a spooky lesson to creep into session (see what I did there ?)!įor today’s class (ahem, post) we’re diving into the mystery of the moon.ĭisclaimer: I’m by no means an expert in etymology or psychology but just a mere former student gleefully sharing the ‘bones’ of what good stories are made of ( shoutout to my Gaelic, Celtic History, and Folklore plus History of the English Language professors).
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