The idea of Blue Monday has become a persistent feature of January. It is based on the notion that the third Monday of the year marks the day that represents the worst combination of cold and dark weather, post-Christmas gloom, debt from festive spending and the realisation that this year’s New Year resolutions won’t succeed.
However, those involved in counselling in west London, while they may deal with many areas of worry, depression and more, will not need to concern themselves with the notion that one specific 24-hour period in January is the day of misery to surpass all others.
In the past, mental health charities like Samaritans have tried to take a positive approach by turning ‘Blue Monday’ into ‘Brew Monday’, when people can meet up for a drink and have a chat to cheer themselves up. Now, however, Samaritans has joined others in proclaiming that ‘Blue Monday’ is a myth.
As a report in the Daily Mail notes, the reason for this being so untrue is the pseudoscientific origin of the date, which has nothing to do with any mental health research and everything to do with a bit of marketing.
In 2005, holiday firm Sky Travel wanted to persuade consumers to dispel the winter blues by booking a holiday to somewhere sunny, so they engaged psychologist Cliff Arnell to devise an equation of when the most depressing things would coalesce together to create the most misery, with this being attributed to the third Monday of the year.
This idea has been debunked as coming without any actual evidence, although it has proved popular with marketers who have copied the idea.
If all the worst misery could be confined to one day, a lot of people would have far less to concern them than in reality. Instead, it is ongoing problems that leave people actually needing help.
For instance, the financial strains of the cost of living crisis have impacted the mental health of many people. A YouGov poll has indicated that the crisis has impacted the mental health of nearly half the adults in Britain, including around 49 per cent of Londoners.