Most Depressing Time of the Year
So…depending on who or what you read…this is the most depressing time of the year. The last couple of weeks in January are thought to be almost unbearable, according to all of the experts. The third Monday in January (last Monday) is referred to as “Blue Monday”.
Ugh. It almost depresses me to write about it.
I’m wondering how they (who are they?) came up with this? So here is the official explanation:
The name “Blue Monday” came about after British psychologist Cliff Arnall devised a formula five years ago for just why people feel so dispirited every year on this day. He came up with a complicated equation that contains seven variables such as weather, debt, monthly salary, time since Christmas, and low motivational levels, reports The Guardian. Arnall, working at a PR firm, used his calculations to lend credence to a press release issued by Sky Travel to prompt people into putting themselves into a better frame of mind with a vacation.
There are no holidays in sight. The economy continues to look gloomy. It’s cold and raining. Yuck. Could there be some truth to this theory? Is it valid to say we’re most depressed this time of year?
Of course not. It’s downright silly.
During the course of a year we go through every emotion known to man. We have great days. We have good days. We have ok days. We have terrible days. We have bad days. We have uneventful days. There are situations and circumstances that come our way – sometimes during January – most often not – that determine when our worst or most depressing time of the year is. This January thing is rather stupid.
I can say that without a doubt my family was most depressed during the month of July last year. I can almost bet that you and your family had their days too. I’m sitting here on a cold, rainy day in January – and we’re happy as can be. Our business is doing fairly well, we’re watching the NFL Championship games on TV, everyone appears to be healthy, we have a productive week ahead planned — we are about as far from depressed as you can get.
Having said that, I can only imagine the people out there who are indeed having a very difficult time this week – for reasons that have nothing to do with this idiotic theory from Mr. Arnall. A business closes, someone gets laid off, being diagnosed with cancer, the death of a loved one — now that’s where you get depressed and have a tough time — to insinuate that it has something to do with a certain time or date during the year is downright ignorance – bordering on stupidity.
Trust me – you can have your “Blue Monday” in July or September. You can have your worst week in March or November. The third Monday in January could – in fact – be the greatest day of your life. I don’t know how these ridiculous ideas and theories become validated.
Silly Silly.
Dennis Lynn – Follow me on Twitter
www.northeastgalinks.com/blog
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