Blue Monday debunked: Why a journey company invented essentially the most miserable day of the 12 months

The third Monday of January has change into often known as ‘Blue Monday’, the day of the 12 months individuals are speculated to really feel most depressed.

But it was not a medical skilled or psychological well being charity that termed it as such.

Blue Monday was dreamt up by now-defunct vacation company Sky Travel in 2005 as a strategy to promote extra holidays.

Each 12 months, journey firms proceed to piggyback on the PR stunt with provides for serotonin-boosting winter solar breaks and wellness journeys.

What is Blue Monday?

Nearly 15 years in the past, UK-based Sky Travel commissioned a former college lecturer to work out what’s the most miserable day of the 12 months as a strategy to market winter holidays.

Cliff Arnall got here up with a ‘mathematical equation’ to seek out the bleakest day by combining climate knowledge, quantities of debt, time handed since Christmas, motivation ranges and the time since New Year’s resolutions have been made.

His calculation led him to the third Monday of January, a day when the Christmas spirit has pale, New Year’s resolutions like Dry January have been damaged, bank card statements from present-shopping sprees need to be settled and the climate is dismal.

Blue Monday sells holidays

Each time Blue Monday comes round, journey businesses seize the chance to market escapist vacation offers to seashore locations or cruises to sunnier climes.

But psychological well being charities are warning of the dangers of shopping for into the idea.

“It is a myth, a false calculation based on things like the gloomy weather, post-Christmas debt, disappointment from not keeping New Year’s resolutions, dissatisfaction about going back to work and general doom and gloom,” writes the UK’s Mental Health Foundation on its web site.

“Since then, it has change into a moderately tedious yearly PR occasion, typically designed to advertise issues which can be vaguely linked to bettering our well-being, as a rule with a whole lack of proof.

“No actual scientific studies have ever backed up any claims about Blue Monday. Let’s look after our mental health against commercial influences.”

Instead, psychological well being professionals are highlighting science-evidenced diseases like seasonal affective dysfunction (SAD) that impression folks right now of 12 months.

“Poor mental health is the greatest public health challenge facing our generation,” the inspiration provides.

“Trivialising symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental health problems, under the influence of commercial industries that wish to turn mental health into an on-trend topic for profit, is unacceptable.”