Can you remember how well you slept during the last full moon? Do you somehow feel different, even when you’re not aware it’s a full moon?
If so, you’re not alone. Despite somewhat limited scientific evidence, millions of people believe that the moon holds an uncanny power over them.
In this article, I’ll be looking at why people feel the moon has such an influence over them, as well as studies that have been done into this worldwide belief.
Then you can make your own decision as to whether or not you think you’ll sleep differently when the next full moon comes around.
Not just superstitious people
Even casual exposure to the emergency services, law enforcement, teaching or social care will involve contact with firm believers in the adverse effects of a full moon.
From hospitals to police stations, the full moon is sometimes blamed for everything from poor sleep patterns to an increase in accident numbers to sudden psychotic episodes.
Some serious, professional, highly trained individuals are certain the moon affects us. In 2011, researchers published an astonishing figure in the World Journal of Surgery:
More than 40% of medical staff is convinced that lunar phases can affect human behavior
The team then looked into medical data to see if there were any notable changes on typically superstitious days, but found none:
Scientific analysis of our data does not support the belief that moon phases, zodiac signs, or Friday 13th influence surgical blood loss and emergency frequency.
So why the difference between what staff think and what research actually shows? Is it that scientific staff have unscientific superstitions, or did the researchers explored the wrong moonlit avenues?
The Transylvania effect
The Transylvania Effect is a term first coined in academic literature in the 1990s. It describes the belief that the lunar cycle can produce both psychologically and physiologically disturbances in people and populations.
The belief that the moon exerts a direct influence on the body and mind can be traced back to pre-Christian times. Pliny the Elder – a Roman author, naturalist, and philosopher – believed that because the full moon caused heavy dew it must also make the brain become “unnaturally moist”.
That was how, he claimed, the moon caused both epilepsy and lunacy. Hippocrates noted that “no physician should be entrusted with the treatment of disease who was ignorant of the science of astronomy”.
And in various languages, the word lunatic has its roots in the moon. For example, the old English word for lunatic was monseoc, which literally means ‘moon sick’.
In the 21st century, we perpetuate lunar myths in our entertainment and our media. From books to films, from memes to light-hearted end of the world news stories, we constantly repeat the tropes of the Moon’s effect on behavior.
Ancient Calendars
The very earliest calendars were based on the cycles of the moon, with the sighting of the new moon indicating a new phase in the year.
Marks on the walls of the prehistoric painted caves at Lascaux in France are believed by Dr. Michael Rappenglueck, of the University of Munich, to be the earliest lunar calendar.
The series of dots and squares painted among the 15,000 year old drawings of bulls, horses and antelopes represent the 29 day lunar cycle.
Most pre-modern calendars were lunisolar, combining the solar year with the lunar year. The Julian calendar abandoned this in favor of a purely solar reckoning. However, the Islamic calendar opted for a purely lunar one.
It should be noted that lunar calendars have always been particularly popular among agricultural societies. This may well be the foundation for our belief that we sleep less during the full moon.
All full moons rise around the time of sunset. But the so-called “harvest moon” and “hunter’s moon”, which occur during the agriculturally busy late summer and autumn in the northern hemisphere behave in a notable way.
They move across the sky in a way that means there’s no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise for several days around the full moon.
So our belief in restless sleep on full moon nights may stem from a long-held belief that we should be out working under the full moon.
Is there scientific evidence that the full moon influences behavior?
In nature, we can prove lunar rhythms. A good example is the triggering of the spawning of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef around the full moon in December.
With regard to humans, however, there’s limited scientific evidence to match the vast amounts of anecdotal stories and superstitious beliefs.
Research offers hope that the full moon affects sleep
Some interesting evidence comes from a research study in 2013, which was carried out at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
What made it interesting is that neither the participants nor the team in the lab were told what the study was about, because it wasn’t even the aim of the study at the time. The data was actually retrospectively analyzed later, when the researchers had the idea of seeing what data from a previous study might say about the influence of the full moon.
Another useful feature of the study is that the lab was darkened at the time. So not only were the participants unaware they were in some kind of moon + sleep study, but they would not have seen a full moon shining its bright light through a window either.
So the researchers were able to retrospectively analyze the effect of the full moon on the sleep of the 33 unaware volunteers. And on the nights that there was a full moon, they discovered that:
- The volunteers took 5 minutes longer to fall asleep.
- They had 20 minutes less total sleep.
- They spent 30% less time in the deep sleep phase.
The study author, Prof Christian Cajochen, proposed that since the participants probably weren’t aware of the full moon, perhaps we are naturally attuned to the lunar cycle, saying:
The lunar cycle seems to influence human sleep, even when one does not see the Moon and is not aware of the actual moon phase.
Whilst intriguing, the research hasn’t been without criticism. Perhaps most importantly, 33 people is a small sample and subsequent research with more participants has not replicated the results.
Research shows no lunar effect
In 2014, a team of researchers took note of the Basel research and also re-analyzed the data from three large samples in different studies. The results didn’t back up the original research though:
…in a re-analysis of sleep electroencephalography (EEG) data in three large samples, we were unable to replicate their findings.
In 2015, Swiss researchers recorded the sleep of 2125 individuals using polysomnogram at home. Once again, they found no change in people’s sleep based on the moon:
Our large population-based study provides no evidence of a significant effect of lunar phases on human sleep.
And in 2016, a large international study looked at the sleep of 5812 children aged 9 to 11, in 12 countries.
Although they did find that overall sleep time was 1% less on average during full moon, they question how significant that really is, concluding:
In conclusion, sleep duration was 1% shorter at full moon compared to new moon, while activity behaviors were not significantly associated with the lunar cycle in this global sample of children. Whether this seemingly minimal difference is clinically meaningful is questionable.
Research in 2021 offers more hope for believers in the full moon’s effect
In 2021, a team of researchers published the results of a fascinating study they undertook with communities in Argentina and the United States.
The team used wrist actimetry (wrist-worn sleep tracking) to measure the sleep of communities of indigenous Toba/Qom people in Argentina. Some had access to electric light, but others didn’t. They also compared their sleep patterns with people in a highly urbanized setting in the US.
As with many previous studies, they found that access to electric light was correlated with less overall sleep and delayed onset of sleep. Interestingly, they found a modulation of sleep throughout the moon cycle – both in individual communities and the whole population. They found that the peak of sleep onset time and lowest overall sleep occurred in the three to five days before the full moon.
The fact that they found this effect in college students in Seattle will likely confirm many people’s suspicion that the moon must have an effect because they only later realize there had been a full moon. This is a comment many readers have made below, and one that’s hard to ignore if it happens to you personally.
The researchers suggest that perhaps the moon’s gravity has a role to play. Despite admitting that they couldn’t establish causality in their study, I imagine this is an area for future research to explore. Though as they point out, controlling the moon’s gravitational pull so they can compare people with and without that effect would be somewhat impossible!
Conclusion
As you can see, the research jury is still out on just how much of an impact the lunar cycle has on our sleep. While some studies appear to provide tantalizing evidence that the full moon could be partly responsible for the occasional night of less sleep, others failed to find a significant effect.
The latest study in 2021 is fascinating as it explores both the practical and cultural reasons an indigenous population with no access to electric light would choose to be awake for longer on the nights there’s more natural light.
Why would a group of students in the US also experience a change in their sleep though? Is it the moon’s gravity gently tugging at their desire to fall asleep? Is it ancestral knowledge and behavior engrained in our culture, many moons after we first moved into our high-tech homes? Do they just love a good full-moon party in Seattle?
Your thoughts
Do you feel that the moon influences how well you sleep? Does the full moon appear to affect your or someone you know’s behavior? Let me know in the comments below.
Last night (Waxing Gibbous phase) I lay in bed for an hour and a half waiting for sleep to come. I experience this in a cyclical pattern and have for years. I rarely have checked if the moon was shining and never knew what phase it was in. Last night I opened my blackout curtains and there was the moon shining brightly. I was up till 2 am. As others have mentioned I also had a calm energy and completed some studying. Reading about these studies helps relieve some of the frustration this sleeplessness causes.
Almost always, I have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep during a full moon phase. I also feel energised yet calm- meaning I’m wide awake in the early hours but not tired. I don’t even try to fight my insomnia. Just tonight I opened my curtains (which are strong blockout ones) and sure enough, there she was, shining in all her full glory! It’s no coincidence that people’s ‘lunatic’ behaviours are enhanced during this phase. Hospitals report more injuries and accidents during the full moon. Surgeons say there are more problems with excessive bleeding during operations. As a teacher and student of astrology, I have observed definite behavioural changes in my students during a full moon; highly emotionally reactive, moody or just downright looney!
I am a female in my 80’s and have had difficulty falling asleep a few days before the full moon for as long as I can recall. It is worse living in Florida, especially on a clear night. I live on a barrier island and my bedroom has windows facing both east and west. When I lived “up north”, I lived amongst hills and oak trees. The problem seems worse in Florida in that I have more anxiety & racing thoughts associated with the insomnia. A moonlit night is much brighter here. The insomnia is worse when the moon is directly over my house. Some more research is needed here!
I usually have no clue as to where the lunar cycle is at any given day, but I tend to sleep like shet a few days every month. I don’t always think about the moon phase when it happens, but much more often than not, when I look it up, it’s just about to be full moon. Like one or two days away. I don’t think I can believe that it’s causal, but it’s just too damn coinsidential to ignore it as well.
I find the waxing gibbous moon for about three nights prior to the actual full moon means very little sleep for me. I am tired go to bed about 10.30-11.00 still awake at 2.00, doze an hour wake at 3.00 ish doze again from about 5.00 a.m Am not into spiritual stuff and not by nature a night owl.
I am exactly the same! 3-4 days before a full moon my sleep pattern is terrible. I wake around 3-4 am and cannot go back to sleep for a couple of hours. I always forget what it is until I Google full moon date and without fail that’s what it is. Interesting. I put it down to having a titanium coil in my brain and the moon affecting it but who knows?
Once a month, like clockwork, I wake up around 2 AM. I toss and turn, my mind races and eventually I turn on my phone to see when the next full moon is. 100% of the time, it’s the following day. I’m awake for two to three hours before I fall asleep again. The interesting part is I sleep like a baby the night of the actual full moon—only the night before, insomnia raises its head!
Hi I’m 37 years old this has badly affected me since I was little. I don’t sleep well as it is I have a restless body it seems my body has durable batteries but my mind becomes grumpy and tired. I guess it’s just our hunter-gatherer instincts coming out. Maybe that’s what our ancestors did under the full moon. Shame we live so differently 😔
My sleep is always affected by the full moon. I find myself awake most of the night. Normally I get 1-3 hours of sleep at most, during the full moon. I am not overly tired the next day. In the middle of the night, I feel wide awake and not the least bit tired. Normally I do not sleep well the rest of the month, but the full moon, DEFINATELY has an affect on me.
I always get affected by the full moon. I avoid it when it starts to form in full. I feel it by getting more active, sensitive and I don’t really get tired in the evenings of the expected full moon. And also, I’m having a hard time sleeping. What I can do is just to avoid it. Taking down the curtains and blocking the light, don’t be exposed by it. I only feel tired because I don’t get enough sleep. But it makes me more active. I really love how a full moon looks like, I just can’t look at it. This is not something I imagine. It has always been this way.
I always feel anxious and cannot sleep when there is a full moon. I haven’t got a clue when they are due. Feel uptight tonight which is a unique feeling with full moon. Googled full moon and found out it’s tomorrow!
I also have the same issue but only during a full moon. I will lay in bed wide awake all night tossing and turning, II have started a log, it is always a full moon when this happens, and I cannot even see the moon from my bedroom windows. I suggest there is no scientific evidence because this only happens to a small group of people for some reason, finding the right group will be tricky. This could even go back to being with how much a Neanderthal person has in their DNA, who knows?
I am 77 and for long as I can remember I have sleep loss during full moons. I have never actively tracked the moon phase but I do know when there is a full moon. I sleep in a darkened room with light-blocking curtains on the windows. It is December 1, 2020, for the past few nights I have awakened at approximately 2:30 AM and lay in bed trying to go back to sleep to no avail. At 2:30 AM the moon appears directly over my home here in Arkansas. This morning when I awoke at 2:36 AM I stepped outside with my two dogs, beautiful full moon above that I did not know it was in phase. No problems, no worries, excellent health, usually sleep like a baby, but, full moon insomnia. I know science cannot explain but it happens, my dogs even get restless. Changing my religion to worshiping Diana, maybe then I can sleep when she is bathing in the sky.
I have had the same problem my entire life, I’m 75. Also have block out curtains, but wake between midnight and 2 am a couple of nights before full moon up until and including full moon. Unfortunately for me I’m usually exhausted, once it has passes can sleep for 8 to 10 hours.
omgoodness…I couldn’t figure out why I have been so restless the last couple of nights. Even my legs last night and tonight are feeling restless leg syndrome. I noticed yesterday that there was a full moon tonight and I thought just a few moments ago… I would google can a full moon cause insomnia. Apparently, this is my issue…It’s the full moon/wolf moon tonight. Not to mention my spirit animal is a wolf… I am so surprised to see I’m not alone on this one…I do have to admit the moon looks magnificent tonight..:)
I have always suffered from insomnia during the full moon phase…I just get restless and can’t sleep…been like this since I can remember, even from childhood
My sleep challenges during a full moon are severe. For over 10 years my Dr and I have discussed it in depth. It has been an issue since my teens.
As I type, the moon is full and it is 1:51 am
I am in my mid-80s and I’ve always needed a lot of sleep. My mother used to say she was “born tired” although she was very active and athletic. I am the one who got horrible nightmares. However, three days before the full moon they are relentless and a few more days after. My friends find this Sort of amusing and at least someone is getting a chuckle! I am told that these nightmares began when I was in crib mode. On a happier note, I am healthy in all other ways.
I have always felt my sleep is affected by lunar tidal phases. Not only do I find I have difficulty sleeping during the full moon, but also the waxing gibbous. It is 0438. I have slept for approximately 1.5 hrs. Same last night.
Gosh.
I suppose just now in my 50s, I am finally convinced that my sleeplessness for a few nights every month is because of moon.
I blamed stress, my lifestyle, working shifts, menopause.
I tried to get exhausted by exercise or physical work, sleeping pills, alcohol.
Nothing is working few nights every month.
I am going to bed at the same time and will fall asleep as usual.
But then, like this night, around 2.30 I will wake up and will stay fully awake.
I used to try listening relaxing music, take a warm bath, read a book.
Nothing is working!
These days I gave up staying in bed, trying to sleep.
I am doing some work, knitting, ironing. Trying not to make much noise to do not disturb the others.
Then, around 5.30 I will be hungry. Have to eat something.
At 6.30, when my husband’s alarm is on, I am ready to sleep.
But my alarm is for 7.30 and it is soo hard to get up.
I tried to force myself to get up, make coffee. It doesn’t work. Once I fell asleep with a coffee cup in my hand.
Initially, I was worried, anxious, which made me distressed because I have to go to work. But with experience, I realised that I need 2 full hours sleep after such bad night and I am fine!
With aging seems that my mind absolutely fine, but my eyes are still tired after sleeplessness night.
I am trying to stay relax and accept this routine. But still, it’s annoying sometimes.
Same for me too, for as many years as I can remember, my ex was the same also. Daytime mood I’m not sure about but it definitely has me in a weird mindset and my thoughts race, it feels a little like anxiety and I feel it’s this that keeps me awake, like I’m on high alert. (Fight or flight response activated).
October 31
Slept from 12 – 3 am
Wide awake now and ready to solve the biggest math question!
Yes, the full moon really does affect my sleep and it has for as long I can remember. It does not upset me to lay awake, I just try to stay relaxed and let it be.
I love the clear moonlit nights.
Ok so let’s use this wakefulness time to ACHIEVE I think I might just do a movie fest night once a month Or two in some mths! Cmon make it count,! I’m going to try to anyway despite needing sleep, it’s overrated…..
Hell yes, the moon affects my sleep patterns.
I go to bed at 11 and am up again at 2. That’s it. Sleep is over for me tonight.
And no, I cannot see the moon from my window.
I can totally relate to this! It happens to me. I thought I was going nuts get up move to the couch so I don’t disturb my husband. He tells me on day 3 it’s the moon. that night I seriously went outside and cussed the moon out looking up at it. I told it to go to hell to sleep.
Hère it is..4:38 a.m. and still not a wink. Definitely, I’m a believer that the moon has a great influence on sleep patterns.
It is 07.10 am here on the coast in Brighton, and I am still wide awake! I am usually a good sleeper but have noticed over the past few months that I am getting 2-3 days where I am unable to sleep. I keep a diary and have just checked, and the dates are around a full moon. Luckily, I work from home, but I have work to do from 9 am!
Hi Delphine,
I don’t usually reply to comments on this article personally any more, but I saw you’re in my old home town, so had to say hi! Brighton is a fantastic spot for beautiful moon, sunrise and sunset photos. Perhaps not so fantastic if you’re still awake at 7.10 am though! I hope you get some sleep tonight.
Regards
Ethan
It has been many years now, I can’t have a sound sleep on nights around Full moon. Its 2:38 AM IST, trying hard for sound sleep, no luck yet. I am going to research some Indian vedic astrology solutions or some Yoga Nidra techniques, hoping to get some answers there which I couldn’t find on this website
Did you find anything that helped?
I was 4 y/o the first time I remembered having insomnia. I could not sleep that night when a huge bright full mood was shinning in the sky; I remember walking around my dark house that was almost lighted up by the moonlight; In my early teens I read about “lunatics” I thought that it makes sense that is the moon can influence the tides it may as well influence my brain and every animal brain in some way. I started to notice how my mood was affected during the full moon without knowing what was the moon phase at the time. It was always a retrospective analysis, like “I can’t sleep again, let see, is the moon full or almost full tonight? and yep, the answer was and continues to be yes it is. Just like the almost fool moon tonight (it was full the 2nd I just read it). Melatonin, Benadryl, etc waiting for me now.
It’s very frustrating. Up at 2 am for 3 hours. Tried sleep stories, music, Bach remedies, lavender, and so on. Every month for years. Wish someone would figure it out!
Hi Caroline. I’m being driven insane by this. It’s been happening to me for as far back as I can remember. What I don’t understand is why scientists only do tests on people who aren’t troubled by the full moon. If they tested me and you and the many others who struggle like crazy, they’d be able to see what we’re having to cope with every single month. And for me it’s the new moon as well. So at least 6 days a month I hardly sleep at all.
I wish there was an answer.
I’ve tried everything just like you.
I’m not a superstitious person, nor do I believe in astrology to the fullest, but the full moon monthly disrupts my sleep. I’ve noticed this consistently for at least 7 years, though perhaps it’s been true all my life before I was aware of it. I will add that this September moon, and the August moon last month have been both particularly strong.
I agree
Looked up this article tonight because I could not sleep again on a full moon… I say again because it’s so freaking consistent. I’ve noticed since I was about 19, I guess that’s when it dawned on me- I used to love it! I would use full moon nights as an excuse to have moonlit adventures, climbing mountains, swimming in lakes, staying out with friends… now I hate it! I have a daughter, and in my grown up life I value sleep more then I used to. I don’t watch for the moon, I simply once a month have a restless night (or several in a row) and then come to realize it’s the moon once I get out of bed due to restlessness. Odd thing is, my daughter too woke up more and had a harder time getting to sleep tonight. She took an hour to fall asleep, then after an hour of being asleep she woke up screaming (she is a REALLY great sleeper and NEVER does that). Then, I woke up at 2AM, minutes later so did she… I wasn’t walking around yet then, or making any sound that caused her to wake as well. She sleeping in a desperate room from me. It was so strange to wake up for “no reason” and then minutes later hear her crying. My husband is not affected at all, but he believes I am because it’s so undeniably consistent.
It’s 6.05am Tuesday 1st September and I’ve been awake the whole night. My sleep has been disturbed for the past few days leading up to the full moon although I did not realise a full moon was approaching. I woke up at 2am this morning with the full moon shining through my window onto me and then I spent the rest of the evening wide awake with racing thoughts and on the one occasion I started to drift off I was woken up 20 minutes later by a nightmare.
Just woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. I tossed and turned and thought.. “maybe it’s a full moon?”
I got online and looked out side and sure enough. Now I’m up reading this article among others.
Interesting. This has happened to me since I was young. Scientific evidence or not, I know I’m not alone.
My sleep has been interrupted by the full moon for as long as I can remember and I’m 72 years old. This month’s moon has been especially hard on me. So far I have gone 3 straight nights with NO sleep. Tonight is Sept. 2….full moon….and I’m writing this at 2:30 am. It’s exhausting!
The first time it happened to me I fell asleep barely sleep for 2 hours wake up at 2:00 am and can’t fall asleep until 5:00 am.
It’s true. So I was thinking I’m going nuts-but my relative told me the same, the interesting thing is that I’m not feeling like I haven’t slept at all and i’m not tired that is weird.
My relative told me there are so many people that are going through that now. I tried everything nothing works, I will take tonight muscle relaxers so hopefully sleep all night.
Say what you want, but I for certain can not sleep when there is a full moon. It affects me sometimes a day before, on the day and a day or two after a full moon. I am not aware when there is one but on checking, true enough, the full moon was out. Sometimes I fall asleep in the early hours of the morning. I am absolutely sure the full moon affects many of us – certainly me.
I am a 71 year old who lives in NZ and am positive my sleep patterns are affected by a full moon. And not by the light from it. My bedroom has double block out blinds.
I think this has been happening for years. I don’t check moon phases unless haven’t slept well for a few nights then have a look. My 49 year old son thinks his sleep is also affected by a full moon. I was discussing it with him one day last year and he said he thinks he is also affected.
Absolutely, I fall asleep for couple of hours but then wake up and don’t fall asleep again until about 4.30. I try to chill and go with it but it is exhausting and frustrsting especially the endless spreadsheets
I wish there was something to help with this I have an almost 4 year old and since she has been born she doesn’t sleep during the full moon. I thought she was just hyper at first until I started tracking the moon phases. No joke every full moon she stays wide awake till about 5-6am and finally will crash out for a bit. I have joked saying she must be part werewolf. I honestly have never met anyone that was affected this much by the moon. The pattern is always consistent with the moon.
Currently sitting on my balcony in a 2nd floor apartment in Son Bou, Menorca on holiday. It’s 4.30am and I’ve been awake since 3am when I’ve had bad guts for the 3rd or 4th night in a row. Literally am wide awake after and can’t get back to sleep. Thinking it was holiday excess but tonight I have only had a couple of drinks and not over indulged. My balcony overlooks the sea where the full moon is highlighting the ocean. I just want to sit here listening to the palm trees and night sounds. I have definitely not always been like this maybe only in the last 3 yrs or so and it’s not every full moon. There is the gut/brain connection and I think it definitely does something to your gut but no idea how you go about proving that!!
Yes, same. And I still can’t sleep since then… Poor sleep 3 days in a row. I don’t know how the moon can influence this long.
Was tossing and turning up to 9 am had turbulent thoughts, when I finally fell asleep I had nightmares. Never had such a strong effect by the full moon before
I was put back on the night shift about 3 months ago – thank you COVID! Strange thing is that I slept so well during the day this week but the one night I’m off I couldn’t sleep at all due to being so restless, jittery and not being able to quiet my mind. I just figured it was because my sleep was off from work until I finally looked up the moon schedule at 5am… I have not always been like this but am like clockwork the past several years. I am an ER nurse and am very scientifically geared but surely someone can find proof about this and explain we are not ALL crazy or ware wolves!
I am sitting here at 2.29 a.m. 3 days before a full moon, having been unable to fall asleep due to my over active mind. This happens regularly just before and during the full moon. I am unable to “switch off “ as easily and drift off to sleep, and often wake after an hour or so and cannot get back to sleep. The moon is hidden under thick clouds tonight, so no extra brightness in the bedroom. Seems I am not alone!
I do not sleep 2 to 3 nights prior to full moon. This consistently happens every full moon. It does not matter what I take for sleep or what I do…..I don’t sleep! Frustrating! Feeling it now. No sleep for 3 nights now.
Exactly my case right now.. I hope that I’ll be able to sleep tomorrow
That’s me right now and every full moon since I was a kid. Now I’m 58 – same thing.
No study will change what I know is real for me and has been as long as I can remember. I don’t even have to look at a calendar usually because, my body tells me 2-3 nights before a full or new moon, the night of and sometimes the night after, by this extra energy and I can’t sleep..it’s awful! I have even added darkening curtains, it doesn’t seem to help. Thanks for sharing. :)
Me too, it sucks I hate it ughh. However it is nice to know I am not alone.
Right on.
The last two nights i haven’t slept, because of the moon. I’m not aware of the moon and still, when i wake up once in a month i can tell “it was full moon last night” and it actually was.
How come there is no actual evidence about this?
I barely fell asleep an hour ago only to wake up just now wishing I could sleep some more. It’s like I’m tired and jittery but restless and unable to sleep. This always happens to me on the full moon! Its suck since I gotta go to work in a few hours and its impossible for me to nap when the suns out lol Even my grandfather and little brother were up all night unable to sleep. I thought I was alone but it’s good to see other moonsomniacs on here who can’t sleep on a full moon. Much love to you all brothers!
I have a sleep app that’s been tracking my sleep for 34 days now. I’ve had trouble falling asleep, in general, on and off for years. This has helped me get into a healthier pattern. Anyway, I’ve noticed that when I’ve woke in the night and had a hard time falling back asleep – those were marked as full moon nights in my app’s sleep journal. It automatically logs this, by the way. Another strange thing to point out on these nights is that I hear noises that wake me. It’s usually the sound of knocking, or sometimes a tapping that sounds like someone is throwing pebbles against the wall or even my window. Last night it was the sound of distinct knocking on the wall. I try to go back to sleep in these moments, but when I start to drift off I hear a knock or tap again and my eyes shoot right open. Last night this went on for a good 45 minutes until I put on my bible app which helped. I also investigated the sounds and came up with no explanation, but needless to say it made me uneasy because I knew what I heard. I live with my kids, all of whom were asleep when I got up to check. Just want to share this because I wonder if anyone else experiences noises that wake them, along with the full moon.
It is a full moon tonight and I also woke up from knocking noises on my window. I got so scared.. my room is on the second floor in the house. I have no idea what this could be and I was frightened to open the blinds. I can’t believe that I’m writing this.
I had similar sounds! Turns out, we had rats in our walls. Mice, rats, termites, these can all make sounds from within the walls.
I have always slept poorly during a full moon. Even when I couldn’t see the moon and when I had no idea there was a full moon. Sometimes I would only sleep a few hours, other times I wouldn’t sleep at all. The day before a full moon has also been a problem, but not the day after. I have had this problem since I can remember, but only made the connection in the last 30 years. (I’m 62) My wife calls it Werewolf time.
Well Big Dave you and I were awake at the same time! This whole week of full moon has been a disaster, despite tanking myself up with red wine and herbal tea. The lack of sleep over several nights renders me useless. Its happened since I was a child.
For me it is 2 nights before a full moon… every time… I can usually fall asleep but only for about 3-4 hrs and then can’t go back to sleep. Even the times when I am unaware of the timing of the full moon it still happens. Most every night I wake up a few times a night and go right back to sleep, but not 2 nights before full moon… I can’t just be subconsciously willing myself to not go back to sleep…
I agree, last night was such a night, woke at 1:30 and that was it, I had no idea til this morning that we are 2 days away from July full moon.
Happens all the time with me, 2 days before, and I am almost always oblivious to the date of full moon
For decades, my sleep is dramatically impacted several nights a week before a full moon. I try not to be aware of the cycle, until I have a night where I can not fall asleep for hours, even though I am very tired. The next day, I look at the calendar and see that it is one week before the full moon. Then I email my brother, who is a medical doctor with the same moon/sleep affliction. Often when I open my email to do so, there is already one from him asking if I had the usual trouble the night before. One of his sons has the same thing. Interesting, and annoying.
Restless to say the least. It feels like the moon is watching me, like a Shepard In the night. It is now 345 am est and despite my endless attempts, once again i failed.
It’s now 02:58 (am) on 7th May, 2020 and I am wide awake, despite having only 3 hours sleep last night (night of 5th May).
True, boredom and, to some degree, anxiety, has disturbed my normal sleep pattern ever since we went into lock-down in March due to Coronavirus. But the wide-awakeness I’m experiencing right now, is different in that it is not accompanied by the physical and mental irritation and ‘heaviness’ felt during the moon’s other phases since lock-down.
Instead, I feel energised and my mind is pleasantly excited and enquiring. I experienced the same wide-awake alertness and positive mental, emotional and physical feelings during the nights of April’s super-moon, too. The only negative effects were a little sleepiness and sluggishness in the morning.
I have questioned whether April’s (and last night’s and tonight’s) clear night skies and the moon’s subsequent brightness are playing a part in my wide-awakeness, but I don’t think they are. Besides, I was watching television earlier, with the curtains closed (and am in my office now also with curtains closed) so, whilst I may be unconsciously aware of it, I’m not physically affected by it.
A few hours of TV in the evenings is my normal precursor to going to bed and I normally go between 22:30 and midnight, falling asleep straight away. But during these two super-moons, I’ve not wanted to go to bed before at least 01:30. And last night, I read until 04:30 before feeling sleepy enough to turn the light off – and was awake, and up, at 07:30 this morning. Yet here I am again, still wide awake and not feeling remotely sleepy!
It is not only super-moons that affect me, however. I have always been enjoyed any full-moon’s ‘charm’: I am a poet and enjoy the mystery and awe of its pewter light (indeed, I found this site whilst doing a little research for a poem), but I am self-aware enough to know the difference between fancy and actual, physical effect. And, at 60 years of age, I also know that, whilst aging and menopause have changed my sleep patterns to some degree, it is WITH age that I’ve become increasingly susceptible to a full-moon’s affect on my sleep.
Science, it seems, has not yet proven a link between insomnia and the moon’s phases, but I am still inclined to think there ARE links; ones that bear more on our psychosomatic responses rather than directly on our physicality.
Psychological therapies use a client’s own metaphors to understand what is happening in the unconscious mind so perhaps a study that includes the thinking, ideas, disciplines and principles of the psychological, cultural and social sciences, and maybe even astrological/astronomical sciences, needs to be undertaken.
The rich variety of metaphors associated with the language terms of each would, I am certain, offer up some interesting answers and channels of further investigation. For instance, isn’t it interesting that the word ‘corona’ is used in astronomy and here we are, in the middle of a Corona-virus pandemic, which happens to occur at the time of two super-moons, and everywhere people are reporting sleep disturbance?
Like you, I had a sleepless night last night ( May 7). It comforts me to know that other people have trouble with full. moons and sleeping as it has haunted me since childhood. Unlike you, the energy I feel during the sleepless night is more restless and it feels like a firework inside me waiting to ignite. Today has been largely unproductive – not surprising during Lockdown! But usually I manage some exercise and housework, and study. I reckon the quality of the 2 hours of sleep I had was very poor indeed – despite preparing myself for it with herbal tea! ( Valerian) I am 72 and have noticed very vivid dreams during the last 7 weeks.
I normally sleep well and long. Being that I’m a mom of three kids, I sleep while I can. But I’ve been up and down all night and now currently wide awake, with no intention of going back to sleep at 5am. And I know it’s because of the super moon 🖤
The same thing happened to mee
I believe there is a link from my own personal experience with the lunar cycle and that of my children who are on the autistic spectrum. For example my 14 year old daughter is usually asleep by about 9pm and she’s currently still wide awake in the bedroom with her Dad 😔 She also has epilepsy which I’ve noticed can be worse during full and supermoon but this could be due to sleep deprivation causing the seizure increase. Her sleep, behaviours like stimming, scratching and nail biting and her seizure activity are all impacted in accordance with the lunar cycle. I’ve followed the pattern and if you asked many parents and carers of differently-abled children they would say the same.
I CAN NEVER SLEEP WHEN A FULL MOON IS APPROACHING AND DURING SO I KNOW THIS IS TRUE
It is now 5 years since I started noticing that on days when the moon is about 80% full sleeplessness occurs. I cannot fall what ever I do. I really didn’t believe that the moon could influence my sleep behavior but I only happens on the days near full moon and full moon day. I do not sleep any sleepiness. Just wake as if my day just started..
My dog and I have insomnia during the full moon…especially for the super moons….when I was not working the next day, I would meditate and we would both sit outside and absorb that beautiful powerful lunar energy…you are totally at one with the universe. Such a beautiful experience….but having to get up for work after no sleep for several days (because it affects both of us days before and after the actual full moon) not as fun as when neither of us need to get up!