Blue Monday is the one holiday that’s difficult to celebrate. Typically falling on the third Monday in January, Blue Monday marks the day on the calendar when many people find themselves in a total seasonal funk, whether it’s due to feeling a post-holiday slump, lack of motivation, disappointment over unfulfilled resolutions, a bad case of the winter blues, or all the above.
In 2025, Blue Monday falls on Monday, Jan. 20, which also happens to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as well as Inauguration Day. But what is Blue Monday and is it based on real data?
“This has no clinical basis whatsoever,” says Dr. Christine Crawford, MD, MPH, and associate medical director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “Someone just made it up,” she tells TODAY.com in a phone interview. That ‘someone’ has been traced back to Cliff Arnall, a United Kingdom-based psychologist. Arnall coined the phrase back in 2004 as part of a PR campaign for a travel company seeking to identify the most glum day of the year. Using a variety of benchmarks, the psychologist determined that the third Monday in January fit the bill.
While Blue Monday might not be based in science, the sentiment — and the depressed feelings many people associate with it — can indeed, be very real.
Learn more about this unofficial January observance, what it means and how to turn it around if you’re feeling down this Monday.
What is Blue Monday?
According to Crawford, there isn’t one culprit for Blue Monday, but a variety of things that contribute to the funk many people feel this time of year.
“Blue Monday symbolizes the sense of difficulty being able to look ahead to the future with excitement,” she explains, saying that the wintry weather and lack of sunlight can lead to feeling blue, as well as the letdown that can accompany the end of the holiday season.
“The combination of coming off the high of all the holiday celebrations in which you are connecting with family and friends, there’s a lot of excitement. There are things to look forward to. You’re spending time doing all of the things that you love and you’re not working. It’s really an amazing, amazing time,” says Crawford.
However, reality quickly sets in once that’s over.
“When that all goes away, you go back to work and you’re going through the grind, then the impact of it being January, the weather, the limited sunlight that sinks in, as well as ‘Man, I don’t have anything to look forward to until April.’ That can be really tough for a lot of folks,” Crawford explains.
She also says that it’s common for people to put off work and other obligations during the holidays, intending to take care of them once the hubbub has died down. When that time comes, addressing those procrastinated projects can feel overwhelming, as can any bills that have piled up as a result of holiday expenses.
“People spend a lot of money in the month of December, and then they’re looking at their credit card statements in January,” says Crawford. “Not only are you feeling bummed about having to play catch-up at work, but there’s more financial pressures for some people having to recoup some of the losses from all of that holiday spending.”
Mid-January also marks the time when New Year’s resolutions like self-improvement commitments and adhering to Dry January begin to falter.
“There’s a lot of pressure that we place on ourselves during the month of January,” says Crawford. “There’s this kind of expectation that you are going to be a better, improved version of yourself.”
And when maintaining that standard falls by the wayside, “That can make one feel kind of depressed actually.”
-What to do if you’re feeling blue
If any or all of the above have left you in a slump, Crawford says there are some things you can do to help improve your Blue Monday outlook starting with giving yourself a break — literally.
“Try to look at ways in which you can break up your day so that it feels manageable, so that you have things that are built into the day that are motivating,” Crawford says.
“If you have a job where you have to focus for a long period of time, schedule in breaks during your day where you can reward yourself, whether it’s to watch one episode of a show or spend some time on social media, and then you get back to work,” she suggests.
Crawford also recommends intentionally staying connected to people after the holiday season and not isolating, even if that feels like the easiest option. “You really have to be proactive when it comes to setting up opportunities to connect with friends and family. Make sure that you are scheduling time to call your loved ones or scheduling time to have that brunch with your girlfriend.”
Unsurprisingly, she also recommends moving your body. “Any opportunity that you have to engage your muscles to be active, you are actually treating your Blue Monday, your low mood, because you are causing your body to release its own antidepressants.”
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Crawford says to cut yourself some slack. “Have some grace for yourself,” she says. “Set up realistic expectations about your daily routine and your daily schedule and have that build and expand over time. But make sure to be realistic about it.”
When Blue Monday leads to something bigger
Though Blue Monday isn’t actually an official holiday of any kind, Crawford says that recognizing it can help you if it provides a sense of community.
“When we have names for these type of experiences, what it does is validates the experience for people,” she explains.
“For a lot of folks, they might feel alone in the fact that during this period of time, they’re feeling lower than usual. When you’re able to assign a name to it, you’re able to identify the feeling, it can be quite reassuring and validating.”
That said, it can also signal a deeper problem.
According to Crawford, there are signs and symptoms to look for that what someone is experiencing goes beyond being temporarily blue, indicating a more serious mental health condition.
“If people are noticing that their ability to function is impaired, their eating habits are off, it’s hard for them to concentrate and focus, or they’re noticing changes in their energy level, and this is going on for a couple of weeks at a time, that might be suggestive that they have clinical depression,” she says.
If that’s the case, or you suspect that you or someone you know is suffering from more than just a Blue Monday funk, Crawford recommends seeking medical care.
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