Blue Monday 'trivialises mental illness'

16th January 2017 – The mental health charity, Mind, has criticised annual media coverage of a phenomenon known as 'blue Monday' for trivialising mental illness.

Blue Monday has been derided for years by scientists who say the formula used to explain why the day – usually the third Monday in January – is the most depressing of the year is nothing more than pseudoscience.

Weather, debt and failed resolutions

The origins of blue Monday can be traced back to a public relations campaign in 2005.

The explanation for why people were most likely to feel down in the dumps on this date was explained by a mathematical formula which took into account various factors such as weather conditions, debt levels, failed New Year resolutions and the number of days since the Christmas holidays.

That year, the date was set as Monday 24th January. The formula read: 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA.

The key to the formula was that W was weather, D stood for debt - minus the money (d) due on January's pay day - and T was the time since Christmas. Q stood for the period since the failure to quit a bad habit; M represented general motivational levels and NA was the need to take action and do something about it.

The formula was credited to a former part-time tutor at Cardiff University.

Since then, blue Monday has been used in advertising campaigns to promote goods and services in the post-holiday winter period.

'Bad science'

It has also been routinely debunked – most noticeably by Ben Goldacre, a medical doctor and academic well known for identifying the misuse of science and statistics.

Dr Goldacre has repeatedly spoken out against the annual repetition of the blue Monday myth, saying "there isn’t really any good evidence for seasonal variation in mood".

He has also expressed concern that it harms the cause of improving public attitude to mental health issues. Three years ago, he wrote: "I don’t think we help move things forward, or get mental health taken more seriously, by using dodgy science."

It 'trivialises a life-threatening illness'

Mind's head of information, Stephen Buckley, agrees. In an emailed statement, he says: "Blue Monday contributes to damaging misconceptions about depression and trivialises an illness that can be life threatening.

"One in 6 people will experience depression during their life. It can be extremely debilitating with common symptoms including inability to sleep, seeing no point in the future, feeling disconnected from other people and experiencing suicidal thoughts."

"There is no credible evidence to suggest that one day in particular can increase the risk of people feeling depressed. There are of course certain things that may make people feel down at this time of year, such as post-Christmas financial strains, broken New Year’s resolutions, bad weather and short daylight hours. However, depression is not just a one day event."