Lunacy: Mind Control From The Sky

<p><span>On December 5th, 2012, a bill landed on President Barack Obama’s desk, meant to do one thing: remove the word “lunatic” from the federal code. This is because in 2012, you could still find the word in laws about banking and controlling estates, among others. And not only was it offensive, it was antiquated—ancient, in fact. The word</span><em><span> lunacy</span></em><span> comes from </span><em><span>luna—</span></em><span>Latin for moon. This is because there was a time when we thought the power to change our moods and minds came from the sky.</span></p> <h3><strong>Guests: </strong></h3> <p><span>Miena Hall is a Family Medicine Resident at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.</span></p> <p><span>Jo Marchant is a science journalist and author of </span><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/646570/the-human-cosmos-by-jo-marchant/" target="_blank"><em><span>The Human Cosmos.</span></em></a></p> <h3><strong>Footnotes &amp; Further Reading: </strong></h3> <p><span>For a deep history on “madness,” check out </span><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691173443/madness-in-civilization" target="_blank"><em><span>Madness in Civilization: A Cultural History of Insanity, from the Bible to Freud, from the Madhouse to Modern Medicine </span></em></a><span>by Andrew Scull. <br></span><strong><br></strong><span>Meta-analyses and literature reviews </span><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.1992.71.3.779" target="_blank"><span>haven’t</span></a> <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/19277222_Much_Ado_About_the_Full_Moon_A_Meta-Analysis_of_Lunar-Lunacy_Research" target="_blank"><span>backed up </span></a><span> </span><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002937805000050" target="_blank"><span>a lunar effect</span></a><span> on human behavior, but more recent studies have found </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6089884/pdf/41398_2018_Article_203.pdf" target="_blank"><span>intriguing</span></a> <a href="https