For many, the third Monday of January, also known as Blue Monday, is the “saddest” day of the year; however, believe it or not, this originated as a PR strategy to book more travels and has nothing to do with real science.
Even though it has been debunked several times, still today many believe this to be the saddest day of the year and though many brands take advantage of this to sell more, it certainly has a good side: it lets us talk about mental health.
What is Blue Monday?
Blue Monday was a term coined in 2004 by Cliff Arnall a psychologist that claimed to be a professor at Cardiff University but turned out to be false.
He came up with the idea of the saddest day of the year by creating a formula that uses many factors, such as weather conditions such as low temperatures and low sunlight, all the debts you accumulated during holidays, time since Christmas and no longer being with friends and family, and time since New Year’s resolutions that have not been achieved or are broken by now.
However, later was discovered that his study was promoted by Sky Travel, an agency that was looking to have a rise in its bookings in January, and it was paid by a marketing agency. Moreover, Cardiff University released a statement claiming that Arnall was not part of its staff.
Why is Blue Monday a problem?
Many psychologists have pointed that having “the saddest day” of the year makes us be more conscious about negative things that surround us and therefore, in a way, self-fulling the prophecy of having a Blue Monday.
As if it wasn’t enough, Blue Monday contributes to “damaging misconceptions about depression and trivializes an illness that can be life-threatening” and slammed the made-up day for treating mental illness as a “one-day event”, says British charity Mind.
There is a good part about Blue Monday
Even though Blue Monday may contribute to the trivialization of depression and anxiety, it does makes us talk about mental health.
Every year is more common to find during Blue Monday people or organizations that encourage people who struggle with everyday life and emotions to seek help and talk about it.
So, if you are feeling blue, reach to experts or just find someone to talk about what you are going through.
