In mild cases of Moonlight Syndrome, patients start to lose fragments of their memories and tend to sleepwalk. Neither of these symptoms is especially uncommon, and may even occur together, but it is the effect of the phase of the moon on Moonlight Syndrome patients that makes it very different from such other conditions.
Patients stabilize when the moon waxes and is full, but tend to seek out the moonlight and wander at night. When the moon wanes, they become frightened and unstable.
Hence, the condition we now call Moonlight Syndrome was originally known as "moonlust" or "night walking," names still used in superstitious contexts.
In severe cases, patients lose almost all of their memories and are attracted to windows and rooftops, giving the appearance of being led by the moonlight. They bathe happily in it, as if having their lost selves returned to them, albeit for a fleeting, unsustained moment.
Patients who lose their memories will start looking toward the moon without fail.
Symptoms like this may occur in individual psychiatric cases, but it is difficult to satisfactorily explain their simultaneous emergence in multiple patients.
The condition is unique to the Rogetsu Islands, so it may have some connection with the climate or beliefs of these islands.
Moonlight Syndrome and the Moon
Moonlight Syndrome and the Moon | |
| |
| Kanji | 月幽病と月の関係 げつゆうびょう と つき の かんけい |
| Game | Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse |
| Author | Shoji Katagiri |
| Chapter | Phase III: Lost Day |
| Located at | Haibara Infirmary, Exam Room |
| Obtained | On the desk with Patient Interview: Takashi Aiba |
| Description | Notes by Dr. Haibara's assistant about the moon and Moonlight Syndrome. |
| Additional Description | Found a document. |
| Related Notes | Warning: Wandering Patients & Moonlight Syndrome Research File |
軽度の月幽病においては、
記憶の断片的な欠落が見られ、
夢遊病のような行動を
とることがある。
特徴的なのは
月の満ち欠けによって
症状が変わることだ。
月が満ちた時は、容体は安定するが、
月の光を求めるように外を徘徊する
傾向にあり、月が欠けた時は
怯えるように不安定になる。
かつて月幽病のことを「月歩き」、
または「憑き歩き」と呼んでいたが、
このことに由来するらしい。
重度の月幽病においては、
記憶がほとんどなくなった患者でも、
月明かりに誘われるように、
窓べりや屋上へと向かう。
そして、まるで月の光が、
一瞬自分が失ったものを
取り戻してくれるかのように、
光を浴び続ける。
記憶が無くなった人間は、
決まって月をあおぐ。
このような症状は、個別には
あるのかもしれないが、
集団で同じような症状に
なるのは説明がつかない。
この朧月島群島の文化圏に
特有であることから、
島の信仰や風土と何か関係が
あるのかもしれない・・・
Notes
In Japanese, the words translated as (月歩き tsukiaruki; "moonlust") and (憑き歩き tsukiaruki; "night walking") are pronounced the same.