\n
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe third Monday of January is annually dubbed “Blue Monday,” a concept claiming it to be the year’s most depressing day. <\/p>\n
This notion has gained such traction that it trended prominently on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, this Monday. <\/p>\n
However, mental health charities have consistently criticised Blue Monday as a myth, arguing it trivialises the complexities of depression.<\/p>\n
What is Blue Monday?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\nAllegedly Blue Monday is the \u201cmost depressing\u201d day of the year due to feelings of sadness a few weeks after Christmas, with many workers still having to wait another week until payday.<\/p>\n
Other factors which supposedly make the day so miserable include cold, grey weather and the breaking of New Year resolutions.<\/p>\n\n
\nJanuary is actually a great time to make those big decisions for the year ahead<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall, Blue Monday’s creator <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
Where did the term come from?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\nIn the words of mental health charity Mind UK, Blue Monday was coined by Welsh psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall in 2005 \u201cto help a travel company sell summer holidays\u201d.<\/p>\n
Writing for Sky Travel, the psychologist developed a formula taking into account various factors including weather conditions, levels of debt, the number of days since Christmas, and the time since\u00a0New Year resolutions\u00a0to pinpoint the third Monday of January.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Sonya Trivedy, Samaritans executive director of external engagement, called Blue Monday \u201charmful\u201d and \u201ca load of rubbish\u201d. (Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHowever, Dr Arnall himself has backtracked from these calculations and distanced himself from his findings.<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Independent in 2018, he acknowledged the day has become riddled with negative connotations and said it was \u201cnever my intention\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether embarking on a new career, meeting new friends, taking up a new hobby or booking a new adventure, January is actually a great time to make those big decisions for the year ahead,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Why has Blue Monday drawn criticism?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\nSeveral charities have sought to debunk the Blue Monday myth and criticised the term for minimising the experiences of people who live with depression and other mental health issues every day.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Blue Monday) oversimplifies the complex nature of mental health challenges and risks trivialising real emotions and feelings for sales,\u201d mental health charity Samaritans posted to X on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife can be tough enough without extra mental health stereotypes like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sonya Trivedy, Samaritans executive director of external engagement, called Blue Monday \u201charmful\u201d and \u201ca load of rubbish\u201d.<\/p>\n\n
\nOur volunteers are busy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so the idea that there\u2019s a single \u2018worst\u2019 day of the year is not only a load of rubbish but is harmful as it could deter people from seeking support when they really need it<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Sonya Trivedy, Samaritans<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
The charity\u2019s Brew Monday campaign, devised on the same day as Blue Monday to dispel the trend, encourages people to reach out to friends, family and strangers over a cup of tea.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Brew Monday campaign aims to dispel the unhelpful myth of \u2018blue Monday\u2019, because we know people can struggle any day of the year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur volunteers are busy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so the idea that there\u2019s a single \u2018worst\u2019 day of the year is not only a load of rubbish but is harmful as it could deter people from seeking support when they really need it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more The third Monday of January is annually dubbed “Blue Monday,” a concept claiming it to be the year’s most depressing day. This notion has gained such traction that it trended prominently on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, this Monday. However, mental health charities have consistently criticised Blue Monday as a myth, arguing it trivialises the complexities of depression. What is Blue Monday? Allegedly Blue Monday is the \u201cmost depressing\u201d day of the year due to feelings of sadness a few weeks after Christmas, with many workers still having to wait another week until payday. Other factors which supposedly make the day so miserable include cold, grey weather and the breaking of New Year resolutions. January is actually a great time to make those big decisions for the year ahead Psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall, Blue Monday’s creator Where did the term come from? In the words of mental health charity Mind UK, Blue Monday was coined by Welsh psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall in 2005 \u201cto help a t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10920"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}