Monday Moanings - January 16, 2017

Blue Monday?



So apparently today has the notoriety of being the most depressing day of the year.

Unless of course, it's next Monday. There is some disagreement here on which day exactly Blue Monday falls. Most claim it is the third Monday in January -- that would be today -- while others say it is the Monday of the last full week in January -- that would be next Monday, the 23rd.


I think I'm getting a headache...

The theory is that late in the first month of the new year, the hype and hoopla machine that propelled us through 6+ weeks of the Christmas/New Year season, has finally run out of gas, AND the credit card bills detailing the excesses of those weeks have arrived.

Ah, but a little research reveals the real truth about Blue Monday. It's origins date back to 2005 when Sky Travel in the UK wanted to drum up January business. They called in a prof at Cardiff University and he developed an equation to calculate the most depressing day of the year.

Interestingly, it turned out to be in January! The idea caught on, along with the remedy: spend your way out of it by buying a vacation package. Oh, and while you're away, spend more money!

The retail industry loved it and we bought it - hook, line, and sinker.

Neuroscientist Dean Burnett has called a spade a spade: "This claim is incorrect. It is unscientific. It is pseudo-scientific. It is uber-scientific." His rant in the Guardian a few years back put it in no uncertain terms:
When asked whether it really was the most depressing day of the year, he answered,

"No.
No, no, no.
No. Na. Nein. Non. Nyet. Mhai. Illai. Não. Nee. Ne. Nope. Negatory. Nada. No way, Jose. Nil. Nu. Nie. Bu Dui. Iie. Nem. Nullus. Nej. Neen. And, in case any Klingons are reading this, Ghobe!"

There is no scientific evidence to support a Blue Monday in January, or a Blue Wednesday in October, or any other day of the year.










For those of us in the northern hemisphere, Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) does have some credibility in the world of science and medicine. For some of us, this time of year just doesn't bring enough hours of daylight to keep us merry and bright.

But have you noticed that both 7am and 5pm are looking a little brighter these days?
The sun where you live may not appear as a great fireball in the sky today, but it is still up there and rising a little bit higher each day.

Where there are shadows, there is light...

Blue, red, yellow or green, it's time to smile and kick off into a new week.

May there be enough light for all of us to enjoy.
Have a good one.












©2017 April Hoeller