People

Today is the third Monday of January and the Monday of the last full week of January, traditionally known as “Blue Monday”: the most depressing day of the year. But is this true and what is this remarkable phenomenon based on?

A British psychologist in the early 2000s created a formula showing that the third Monday in January is the day when most people feel most unhappy and depressed.

The formula, which many scientists do not believe in at all, by the way, is based on the fact that on “Blue Monday,” people realize that the resolutions they made for the new year are doomed to failure and that they are still a long way from a real vacation. Therefore, a first day of work of the week in a dark January month is not a day to be cheerful, according to the British psychologist. 

In 2005, an American psychologist also proclaimed this day the most depressing day based on a mathematical formula that took into account weather conditions (in gray January) and financial circumstances (with a bank account strained during expensive end-of-year festivities), among other factors. Five years later, however, the psychologist confessed that he had conducted his study on behalf of a travel company that wanted to use it to boost its sales. 

However, the myth of “Blue Monday” still persists, but scientifically there is no reason at all to label one day as more “depressing” than another.

So enjoy this Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, to the fullest, and allow all your feelings today, whether they are positive or negative, or something in between.

(FVDV with Fausto for Tagtik/Picture: Unsplash)