Blue Monday: 29 facts about… today!

Today is this year’s Blue Monday.

Today is the famous Blue Monday of the year. But what exactly is Blue Monday? Let’s find out more about this day…

1. Blue Monday is considered to be the most depressing day of the year.
2. In 2020 it’s on the 20th of January, but it’s not on the same day every year.
3. Every Blue Monday though it’s in January.
4. Blue Monday is typically the 3rd Monday of January.
5. The concept was first publicized as part of a press release from a holiday company named Sky Travel.
6. This press release was published in 2005.
7. It claimed to have calculated the date using an equation.
8. The equation takes into consideration a variety of factors.
9. One of them is the weather conditions.
10. This only applies to the Northern Hemisphere, so it is considered as only a Northern Hemisphere phenomenon.
11. Another factor is the debt level and the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay.
12. Also, it is taken into account the time since Christmas and the time since failing our new year’s resolutions.
13. An additional factor is the low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action.
14. The equation was first used in 2006.
15. W stands for the weather, d stands for the debt, D stands for the monthly salary, T stands for the time since Christmas, Q stands for the time since failing our new year’s resolutions, M stands for the low motivational levels, and N_a stands for the feeling of a need to take action.
16. The equation was created by Cliff Arnall.
17. Cliff Arnall was at the time a tutor at the Centre for Lifelong Learning.
18. By coincidence, the date in the United States almost always coincides with the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day which is a federal holiday.
19. So the concept of Blue Monday is not widely known there.
20. It is not so used outside of the United Kingdom as well.
21. In general Blue Monday is considered part of pseudoscience.
22. All in all, it is considered fake and scientists don’t accept it as real.
23. Many companies adopted the idea of Blue Monday and created campaigns based on its concept.
24. Cliff Arnall talked about Blue Monday in the Independent in 2018.
25. He claimed that ” it was never his intention to make the day sound negative, but to inspire people to take action and make bold life decisions”.
26. There is not an official explanation about why the most depressing day of the world is… blue!
27. But in many occasions, blue is the symbol of sadness and stability.
28. The good news is that there is also “a happiest day of the year”.
29. This day is closed to the Midsummer in the Northern Hemisphere.