Blue Monday coincides with the third Monday in January. It seems that on this day, you are more likely to have the blues and be prone to feelings of depression and gloom. What is it really?
This concept originated in 2005 when British psychologist Cliff Arnall said he devised a mathematical formula for calculating the most depressing day of the year. Impressive, right? Among the indicators on which the formula is based, we find: the weather, end-of-year debts, January resolutions that fall through, lack of motivation, the distance from the holiday season and the next salary , etc. Please note, this method has no scientific basis. Ironically, the person who created Blue Monday is now campaigning for its abolition given the proportions it has taken over the years.
Many mental health professionals are warning about the extent that this phenomenon can take. They believe that Blue Monday worsens the plight of people suffering from mental disorders and can make them feel guilty.
For Ghizlane Ziad, a clinical psychologist specializing in clinical and social clinical pathology, the month of January can, generally speaking, be a period when many people are feeling down. “There are physiological aspects (the lack of natural light and exposure to the sun cause a drop in serotonin and therefore a fragile mood.), biological (prolonged darkness increases the production of melatonin, causing an increased feeling of fatigue) and psychological (January is often the months of financial and personal balance sheets, with all the stress that accompanies them, By combining these elements, January often becomes a month where motivation and well-being are put to the test, well beyond the concept of Blue Monday,” explains the. specialist.
-To put an end to speculation, Cliff Arnall said that it was the travel agency Sky Travel that asked him for a study that could identify the most depressing day of the year, at a time when it wanted to communicate the benefits of traveling in January. It is therefore just a pure marketing invention.
Despite this mea culpa, the phenomenon of Blue Monday continues to exist to this day and still has followers around the world.
“Whatever it is, whether you believe it or not, the most important thing is what you do with it. We always have a choice: we can submit to fate (to this injunction to be unhappy on January 20) or actively counter this phenomenon (by doing particularly positive and morale-boosting things on January 20),” advises Ghizlane. Ziad.
