Strange Dreams? Blame It On The Moon.

Not too many things can affect the way a person dreams…outside of drugs and nicotine patched of course, but I mean regular stuff like the changes in seasons or days of the week, or so they thought.  Enter the full moon.

Richard Wiseman, a British psychologist studies the dreams of 1000 volunteers and found that during a full moon many participants experienced dreams that were bizarre to wonderfully exciting. He also incited some dream reactions by playing certain sounds as the person slept using an app on their cell phone.

On an average day people dream things not that dissimilar to their real life. However the study showed that during a full moon volunteers dreamed they were things like a super hero or perhaps able to fly.

Professor Wiseman also believes the disruption of melatonin a sleep promoting hormone during this time may have an effect on the dream process. He postulates that genetically we may be more sensitive to phases of the moon formed by our ancestors hunting schedule or alertness to predators who hunt more during a more lit night.

These results built on previous research done in Switzerland which added that during a full moon people take longer to fall asleep and usually sleep less soundly and approximately a 20 shorter period than is normal for that person.

I suppose we could all test his theory by keeping a sleep journal.  Keep it near you bed since you are most likely to remember dreams from just before waking.

Professor Wiseman, who describes his findings in his book Night School, said having more uplifting dreams has advantages beyond leaping out of bed in a good mood.

Full Moon Schedule