After a December full of activities, gifts, encounters and happiness, the famous ‘January Slope’ arrives. The weather is unpleasant, our immune system fights against colds and flu, we still have accumulated sleep, our stomachs are resentful of large meals, dinners and drinks, the sun is scarce, the bank account is in the red … January is , without a doubt, the great ‘post-Christmas hangover’ .
This month becomes even more unbearable and hard if, in addition, we have to face the most depressing day of the year, Blue Monday .
The “Sad Monday”, translated from its original name, is placed on the third Monday of every January . The author of this qualifier is Cliff Arnal , a researcher and psychologist at the University of Cardiff (United Kingdom), who coined the term in 2005 .
The travel company Sky Travel hired in its new advertising campaign the services of Arnal and his team to develop a formula that would give them exactly what periods of time and, specifically, what day we humans feel most unhappy. Combining chronic and temporary, internal and external factors, Arnal responded to the company’s demand. In this way, the entity would be able to take advantage of the valuable information to use it, of course, for its own benefit.
But can a date really get us down?
The existence of this depressing day is a matter for debate. Blue Monday has been rejected in different academic fields , as well as, among different psychologists and scientists. In fact, they have come to qualify it as “pseudoscience” .
Dean Burnett , one of the experts who worked with Arnal, publicly assured a few years ago that, in his opinion, Blue Monday is ” nonsense “, as well as a “lack of respect for all those people who truly suffer or have suffered depression. He added that “it is extremely unlikely that there is a reliable set of factors that cause depression in an entire population at the same time each year .”
However, Burnett’s regret for having participated in the creation of this terrifying day makes the third Monday of each month, just as they defined at the time, the worst of all.
Whether it is fact or fiction, just in case, we present a compilation of tips for you to face any trace of sadness . A good list that will help you both on Blue Monday and on a ‘ Red Wednesday ‘.
