Many studies – like this 2015 one (opens in new tab) – take place in a sleep lab with no windows. For instance, it's irrelevant if the weather is cloudy. It is this bright, blue-toned light that impedes melatonin production, a hormone that signals to our body that it's time to sleep, and increases levels of cortisol, also known as a 'stress hormone', which keeps you awake." "The difficulty comes from the fact that levels of light from the moon are brightest when it is at the full stage of its cycle. "As the moon passes through the four phases of its cycle, more light is reflected by the moon at its fullest, making a good night's sleep can be challenging, explains psychologist and sleep scientist Theresa Schnorbach, who's the resident Sleep Expert at Emma (opens in new tab). Because we know that our sleep-wake cycles are stimulated by rising and falling hormone levels in response to light, it makes sense that this could cause disrupted sleep. Moonlight is sunlight bounced off the moon's surface and reflected back to Earth – albeit much more weakly. One popular one is that it's to do with the increased amount of moonlight (that was the conclusion of the large-scale 2021 study mentioned above). There are a few theories as to why a full moon might have a negative impact on sleep. This 2015 study of 2125 people included both subjective and objective monitoring, and concluded there was no significant effect between lunar phases and sleep. While there's plenty of evidence to suggest there is a link between sleep quality / duration and lunar cycles, not all scientists agree. On nights close to a full moon, total sleep time, Stage 4 sleep and REM sleep were reduced in women, whereas in men the amount of REM sleep increased during that period. One 2015 study (opens in new tab) of 205 adults found that there was a split based on gender. This research from 2021 (opens in new tab) had similar findings, with participants tending to fall asleep later and sleep for a shorter period overall on the nights leading up to a full moon. There was a 30% drop in deep sleep, and participants reported worse sleep quality, too. This 2013 study (opens in new tab) found that around the full moon, the time it took for participants' to fall asleep increased by five minutes, and sleep duration decreased by 20 minutes. It found that all groups of participants fell asleep later and slept for less time overall in the week running up to a full moon. Claims that the full moon might affect mental health (the word 'lunatic' stems from the belief that the lunar cycles caused changes in mental state) or make you physically ill don't have much by way of scientific backing, but there are multiple studies that suggest they can indeed distrust sleep.Ī large-scale study from 2021 (opens in new tab) focused on the sleep patterns in three indigenous Argentinian communities and 464 American college students in a big city. Many people believe that a full moon affects their physical and mental wellbeing, including having a negative impact on their sleep. For more tips, head to our guide to how to sleep better at night naturally, or check out our best mattress guide if it's time to upgrade your sleep setup. If widespread theories are to be trusted, that means your sleep has probably already started to deteriorate.īelow, we'll dig into exactly how and why a full moon might affect sleep, and offer some advice on how to avoid a sleepless night on Sunday (or any full moon). But why might this be, and is there any science to back it up? October's full moon falls on the night of Sunday 9 October, and is known as the Hunter's Moon. Anecdotally, plenty of people experience disrupted sleep on nights around a full moon.
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