Here’s Why ‘Blue Monday’ Should Be Approached With Caution

Topline: You may have heard the term “Blue Monday” floating around to describe the third Monday of January as the most depressing day of the year—but the term originates from a PR stunt and has since been debunked by mental health charities and scientists.

• The day was launched in 2005 by Cliff Arnall, a psychologist at Cardiff University, who developed a formula to work out when people were most likely to book a holiday. The formula was based on the belief that the gloomier people were, the more likely they were to book a holiday in the sunshine. The campaign was created in conjunction with Sky Travel.
• Some of the factors measured by the formula include weather, people’s financial situations in the post-holiday slump, and a lack of motivation.
• But the science behind the day—and the formula—has since been questioned, while some psychologists have criticized the phenomenon for trivializing depression. Psychiatrist Dean Burnett, also at Cardiff University, told the Vancouver Sun: “There is no such thing as a 24-hour depression, like a flu. Mental health just doesn’t work that way and the idea that it does is actually quite harmful.”
• Arnall has previously defended his approach, saying he wanted to use the media platform to raise awareness about psychology, he told CNN.

 

• Blue Monday has also been linked with a 2009 Japanese study that found that, among men of all ages, the number of suicide deaths was higher on Monday than on any other weekday.

Tangent: Samaritans, the mental health charity, has launched its own campaign off the back of the Blue Monday phenomenon, called “Brew Monday,” which encourages people to get together over a cup of tea and raise money for the organization, Some 1,000 volunteers across the U.K. were spread out across rail stations, encouraging people to take part in the event.

Big number: While Blue Monday has largely been debunked as a myth, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression, is real. Symptoms include persistent low mood, irritability and feelings of worthlessness. According to the NHS, its causes aren’t fully known, but it is linked to reduced sunlight exposure during the colder months. It is thought to affect 3% of people in the U.K., while 10 million Americans are believed to live with the symptoms.