Perhaps perpetuated by folklore, Hollywood, or just human fascination, the idea that the moon effects human behavior continues to persist today.

But how much of it is fact, and how much is fiction?

When there is a full moon, people always say Oh everybody is acting strangely because its a full moon, says Sara Wilson, executive director of the St. Joseph Museums. We said Well, is that really true?

The Moon and Madness exhibit, which looks at the connections between the moon and human behavior, opened Aug. 1 at the Glore Psychiatric Museum. The family-friendly, temporary exhibit will be open through the end of the year.

The exhibit explores this idea, this fundamental belief that we have that the moon effects human behavior, Wilson says. We think about the history between our long understanding of the history of mental illness and what mental illness is and the idea that the moon has some relationship to that.

In preparation for the exhibit, the museum collected research that looked at human activity during a full moon, including psychiatric hospital admissions and crime. They worked on the exhibit for about a year before it was unveiled.

Are there more psychiatric hospital admissions during a full moon? Is there more crime during a full moon? Wilson says. Overwhelmingly, the science seems to indicate, no, theres not. But if you have friends who work for the police force or hospitals, almost all of them will say Yes, yes, there is something that happens when theres a full moon that people start to act strangely.

Although such a connection, which has been called the lunar lunacy effect or Transylvania effect, has persevered in legend, media and other places, the research didnt support a connection, Wilson says. Despite the lack of solid scientific evidence, the connection has been long standing, including in the mental health field, she says.

The state hospital, which was here in St. Joseph, which is largely what the Glore interprets, was originally called the State Lunatic Asylum. If you think about that word, lunatic, that has its roots in lunar, which is another word for moon. The notion of lunatic, the longstanding idea of what happens with lunacy, is there is some connection to the phases of the moon, she says.

One theory about a link between the moon and human behavior stems from the moons influence on the Earths tides, Wilson says, but research suggests that the same influence is not substantial on the human body.

The thing that I find most interesting is our stead-fast belief that people do act strangely during a full moon, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence, Wilson says. I think there must be something to it, even though our science maybe hasnt figured out what, yet.

The interactive exhibit also looks at the solar system and the fundamentals of solar and lunar eclipses. A telescope allows visitors to view the moon, and a 3-D interactive exhibit displays the solar system.

A few floors below the exhibit, lunar sample 70035, a piece of moon rock, is on display at the museum. It was collected by astronaut Harrison Schmitt in 1972 and is estimated to be 3.75 billion years old. It will be on display through October and was brought to St. Joseph by the St. Joseph Museums and VekTek LLC.

Thats been a huge deal for St. Joseph to have a piece of the moon when the solar eclipse is coming, Wilson says. We are grateful for that.

The solar eclipse provides a unique opportunity to look at the history of the moon and mental illness, Wilson says. The St. Joseph Museums, 3406 Frederick Ave., are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission ranges from free for children under 6 to $6 for adults.

The Glore is a fantastic resource here in St. Joseph, and its inspiring, she says. Its also an important story that we share with the entire country, the history of treatment of mental illness. Its very unique.

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Glore looks at connection between moon, behavior - News-Press Now