Lunatic
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{{redirect|Loony|the Canadian coin|Loonie|headcase}}
A '''lunatic''' (colloquially: "'''looney'''" or "'''loon'''") is a commonly used term for a person who is [[mental illness|mentally ill]], dangerous, [[fool]]ish or unpredictable: a condition once called '''lunacy'''.
==Linguistic roots==
The word ''lunatic'' is borrowed from [[Latin]] "lunaticus", which gains its stem from "luna" for [[moon]], which denotes the traditional link made in [[folklore]] between [[lunar effect|madness and the phases of the moon]]. This probably refers to the [[symptom]]s of cyclic [[mood disorder]]s such as [[bipolar disorder]] or [[cyclothymia]], the symptoms of which may also go through phases. As yet there no evidence whatsoever for any causal link between phases of the moon and the progression of mood disorder symptoms. Correlation has been observed in distant parts.
[[Psychiatric hospital|Mental institutions]] used to be called "lunatic asylums" or colloquially, "loony bins".
In [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Polish language|Polish]] and [[Czech language|Czech]], a lunatic refers to a [[Sleepwalking|sleepwalker]], literally "one who walks under the moon" or "moon walker".
In Romanian, a word with the meaning of "lunatic" is "zănatic", derived from Latin "dianaticus", from [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]], the Roman goddess of the Moon.<ref name="DEX">''[http://dexonline.ro/search.php?cuv=zanatic zănatic]'' at ''[[Dicţionarul explicativ al limbii române]]'', [[Academia Română]], Institutul de Lingvistică "Iorgu Iordan", Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 1998.</ref>
==Lunar hypothesis==
In a [[1999]] Journal of Affective Disorders article, a [[hypothesis]] was suggested indicating that the phase of the moon may in the past have had an effect on bipolar patients by providing light during nights which would otherwise have been dark, and affecting susceptible patients through the well-known route of sleep deprivation.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} With the introduction of [[electric light]], this effect would have gone away, as light would be available every night, explaining the negative results of modern studies. They suggest ways in which this hypothesis might be tested.
== Use of the term "lunatic" in legislation ==
In [[England]] and [[Wales]] the [[Lunacy Acts]] 1890 - 1922 referred to lunatics, but the [[Mental Treatment Act 1930]] changed the legal term to "Person of Unsound Mind", an expression which was replaced under the [[Mental Health Act]] 1959 by [[mental illness]]. "Person of unsound mind" was the term used in 1950 in the English version of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] as one of the types of person who could be deprived of liberty by a judicial process. The 1930 act also replaced [[Psychiatric hospital|Asylum]] with [[Mental Hospital]]. [[Criminal Lunatic]]s became [[Broadmoor Patient]]s in 1948 under the [[National Health Service]] Act. The terms are still used by journalists, especially in [[tabloid newspaper]]s.
==Lunar Distance==
The term ''lunatic'' was also used by supporters of [[John Harrison]] and his [[marine chronometer]] method of determining [[longitude]] to refer to proponents of the [[Method of Lunar Distances]], advanced by [[Astronomer Royal]] [[Nevil Maskelyne]]. {{Fact|date=May 2008}}
Later, members of the [[Lunar Society]] of [[Birmingham]] called themselves ''lunaticks''. In an age with little street lighting, the society met on or about the night of the full moon.{{Fact|date=May 2008}}
==See also==
* [[Bethlem Royal Hospital|Bedlam]]
* [[Mental illness]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.mhsource.com/expert/exp1010504e.html Does the full moon have any effects on mood?] (cites research studies: 2 negative, 1 positive)
* Raison CL, Klein HM, Steckler M. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10363673&dopt=Abstract The moon and madness reconsidered.] ''J Affect Disord.'' 1999 Apr;53(1):99-106
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/6723911.stm Crackdown on lunar-fuelled crime] - BBC News, 5 June 2007
[[Category:Pejorative terms for people]]
[[Category:Mental illness diagnosis by DSM and ICD]]
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