Good news for mental people like me. It’s Blue Monday today, the most depressing day of the year. The third Monday of January, Blue Monday is so called because it coincides with financial struggles, less-than-ideal weather, and the failure of New Year’s resolutions — leading to a collective low mood. It’s on the internet so it must be true. I’m especially depressed at the moment, so at least I have found the cause. Except that actually I haven’t. It’s bullshit. Allow me to quote from the mental health charity MIND’s website:
“Blue Monday” originated as an idea in 2004 when psychologist Cliff Arnall was asked by travel firm Sky Travel to come up with a formula for the January Blues. This was for a press release encouraging people to book their summer holidays.
“The formula was based on the factors likely to cause low mood, including the time since Christmas, motivation levels, and the weather. However Arnall later admitted that the formula was essentially pseudoscience and urged Brits to “refute the whole notion” of Blue Monday (Independent 18.1.21)
“The concept of Blue Monday trivialises depression, which is obviously not a one-day occurrence. It can happen at any time.”
In other words, a highly cynical travel company, unsurprisingly owned by international Thunderc*nt Rupert Murdoch tried to screw money out of people on the back of their poor mental health. Gullible buffoons, like me, fell for it hook, line and sinker.
There is no doubt that conditions like Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) do exist and I know from my own miserable, self-pitying life that the deep and indeed shallow midwinter my low moods are often lower, making my clinical depression worse. But let’s be honest: who doesn’t get fed up with the endless cold and dark days at this time of year? Maybe these are the folk to whom Sky Travel were trying to flog holidays?
But here’s the thing. Depression is a serious condition, an illness that can affect anyone at anytime. Depression, the illness, does not just turn up on the third Monday in January. It’s life-wrecking, at worst life-destroying. How dare Sky Travel make light of it? Because they can, or rather because they could, that’s why.
Sky Travel doesn’t exist anymore, closing down in 2010 “due to intense competition from the internet”. Good. No one would talk about, say, cancer the way some people do about mental illness in general and depression in particular. It belittles sufferers, it trivialises a very serious illness.
This isn’t the most depressing day of the year, Blue Monday doesn’t really exist as an actual day at all. Tomorrow may be better but not because of a failed advertising slogan.
