January’s third Monday, “Blue Monday”, is thought to be the most depressing day of the year. It isn’t. Let’s look after our mental health against commercial influences and have a Brew Monday instead.
Blue Monday is a myth – Blue Monday is a PR stunt that was originally dreamed up to sell holidays. 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. Since then it has become a rather tedious yearly PR event, often designed to promote things that are vaguely linked to improving our wellbeing, more often than not with a complete lack of evidence. No actual scientific studies have ever backed up any claims about Blue Monday.
Mental health ‘good and bad’ days are individual to each of us
It is pointless to try and identify what the most depressing day of the year is because it would be different for each one of us. As different as each person’s circumstances are. And it is also important to distinguish between temporarily feeling down, which we all relate to from time to time, and experiencing depression or a mental health problem that can be quite disabling for our day to day lives.
This year, perhaps more than any other year in recent memory, the need and importance for us all to look after our mental health and support each other at this time, is clear and urgent. The Coronavirus pandemic has eroded many of the things that normally protect our mental health – from social connectedness to financial security and hope for the future.
If you know someone who need some help today swap Blue Monday for Brew Monday and contact someone and have a chat and a brew on the phone or over zoom or check out the link below
stateofmindsport.org/support/
We may find that we are not alone; people are there to help and so many are facing similar challenges. Mental health matters on every day of the year.