A study of correlation between seismicity and mental health

What is it about?

We compared the number ofM> 2 earthquakes in an area, including the island of Crete, Greece, to the number of admissions to the Psychiatric Inpatient Unit of the University of Crete (IPU/UoC), during the period 2008–2010. We found that when earthquakes with M  6.4 occurred in the region examined, the number of monthly admissions to the Acute Care Unit of the IPU/UoC, NAA, reached lowest values, whereas this number increased when the monthly number NE of small (M < 3) earthquakes increased. We also found a positive correlation between the total number of monthly admissions NA and NE (r ¼ 0.601/P ¼ 0.001). When a daily resolution analysis was performed for the month with the highest value of NE, we found that an abrupt increase in the number of small earthquakes was followed by an increase in the number of admissions after 2 days (during that month, from a total of 71 patients, 38/10 people were diagnosed with schizophrenia/ bipolar disorder). We hypothesize that seismic activity might be a significant contributing factor influencing the frequency of admissions of psychotic disorders in Crete in the period 2008–2010 and that the beneficial/adverse effects are related to the anomalous electric field/extra low frequency–ultra low frequency emissions.

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Why is it important?

From the neurophysiological point of view, a substantial body of evidence suggests that the epiphysis or pineal gland is very sensitive to any alteration in the EMFs (Braud and Dennis 1989; Wilson et al. 1990; Lerchl et al. 1991; Kay 1994). Because of its connection with the hypothalamus, the epiphysis may induce changes to the hormonal homeostasis, resulting in marked modifications in emotion and behaviour. In addition, the pineal gland produces the hormone melatonin and an endogenous hallucinogen (6-MeOTHBC) that presumably may provoke a psiconducive state of consciousness (Roney-Dougal 1989, 1990). In the spectrum of its neurochemical activity, the pineal gland may release neuromodulators, such as betacarbolines which are Mills’ monoamine oxidase inhibitors that prevent the breakdown of catecholamines, a body of neurotransmitters, including serotonin and dopamine, which, acting in the neuronal synapses in the temporal lobe and other cortical and limbic areas of the brain, may lead to hallucinations (Strassman 1990). The possible role of melatonin in the physical or mental reactions to geomagnetic storms (Burch et al. 2008) supports the hypothesis that temporal variation in the geomagnetic field (GMF) may act as a synchronizer for circadian rhythms. The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, which is the site that controls circadian rhythms, is sensitive to diurnal changes of the melatonin levels and the lightdependent retinal molecular system mediated by cryptochrome (Thoss and Bartsch 2007). It is hypothesized that the cryptochrome system mediates stress responsesacross the hypothalamic–pituitary axis in response to geomagnetic phenomena with obvious effects on human emotion, behaviour, cognition, mental activity and psychological condition (Close 2012).The mechanisms of the EMF effects on the functions of the CNS are currently unknown. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of seismicity on mental health (expressed by the number of admissions in the psychiatric inpatient unit) by studying the correlation of several well-defined measurable variables. Our 3-year correlation results show that during the 10 months period [January– October 2008 (Period 1), when four EQs with M  6:4 and 161 EQs with M  4:0 occurred in the examined region, the rate of acute admissions to the IPU/UoC was much lower compared to the rest of the time period examined [November 2008– December 2010 (Period 2), when only one EQ with M ¼ 6.4 occurred an increasing trend for admissions of cases of milder psychiatric patients during the same time (Period 1) ; an increasing trend of the monthly frequency of EQs NE with M > 2 and the monthly number of admissions with acute psychotic disorders NAA in Period 2, with a correlation coefficient r ¼ 0.667 (P < 0.001) between the two samples ; and the prompt (2 days) response of the admission rate to the IPU/UoC after a fast increase in the number of small EQs near Crete.

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