Lunatic

For other uses, see Lunatic (disambiguation).

"Loony" redirects here. For the Canadian 1 dollar coin (loonie), see Canadian 1 dollar coin. Or see Looney (disambiguation) or Luni (disambiguation).

"Lunatic" is an informal term referring to people who are considered mentally ill, dangerous, foolish or unpredictable; conditions once called lunacy. The term may be considered insulting in serious contexts, though is sometimes used in friendly jest. The word derives from lunaticus meaning "of the moon" or "moonstruck".

1 Lunar hypothesis
2 Use of the term "lunatic" in legislation
3 Lunar distance
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Lunar hypothesis

Philosophers such as Aristotle and Pliny the Elder argued that the full Moon induced insane individuals with bipolar disorder by providing light during nights which would otherwise have been dark, and affecting susceptible individuals through the well-known route of sleep deprivation.^[1] 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. The authors suggested ways in which this hypothesis might be tested.

[edit] Use of the term "lunatic" in legislation

In the British jurisdiction of 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 asylum with mental hospital. Criminal lunatics became Broadmoor patients in 1948 under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947.

On December 5, 2012 the US House of Representatives passed legislation approved earlier by the US Senate removing the word "lunatic" from all federal laws in the United States.^[2] President Obama is expected to sign this legislation.

[edit] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ The Moon and madness reconsidered Journal of Affective Disorders, June, 1999
^ Sherman, Amy (17 December 2012). "Allen West said the House voted to remove the word 'lunatic' from federal law". PolitiFact. Retrieved 18 December 2012.

Riva, M. A.; Tremolizzo, L.; Spicci, M.; Ferrarese, C.; De Vito, G.; Cesana, G. C.; Sironi, V. A. (January 2011). "The Disease of the Moon: The Linguistic and Pathological Evolution of the English Term "Lunatic"". Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 20 (1): 65–73. doi:10.1080/0964704X.2010.481101.