What to Know About Blue Monday: The Saddest Day of the Year

January is the pits for a variety of reasons:

The holidays were stressful and you’re just coming out of them The holidays were _not_ stressful and you’re sad they’re over You’re not thrilled to go back to your job A new year makes you think about your mortality and the goals you haven’t yet accomplished It’s cold, it’s gray, you feel sluggish and you know there are THREE MORE MONTHS of short days Your SAD symptoms are in overdrive

There’s even a theory that the third Monday of the month—otherwise known as Blue Monday—is the saddest day of the year. In 2020, Blue Monday falls on January 20th.

Is the third Monday of January really the saddest day of the year? Let’s dig into how this idea first came about.

Blue Monday came into existence in 2005 from Dr. Cliff Arnall, a psychologist in the United Kingdom. He reportedly created a mathematical formula that pinpointed the third Monday of January as the most depressing day of the year. While the formula has changed throughout the years, it generally factors in weather, sunlight hours, income, debt, time since the holidays, new year’s resolutions and motivation.

Dr. Arnall came up with this formula for Sky Travel, a travel channel in the United Kingdom. The channel put PR behind the claim and it became a media firestorm. A quick Google search will show you article after article either supporting or dismissing the claim that the third Monday of January is the most depressing day of the year. Google will also show you that Dr. Arnall is sorry for putting this claim out into the world. In fact, he really wants you to forget about it.

Dr. Arnall told the Independent that his goal was not to make people feel bad about January—he wanted people to feel motivated to change their life during this gray and cold time of year. Creating the Blue Monday moniker has certainly landed Dr. Arnall in hot water, especially in the science world. A fellow Cardiff University psychologist writing for The Guardian chastised Dr. Arnall for getting paid to push “pseudoscience.” A campaign was also created in 2009 to encourage Brits to find ways to “beat Blue Monday.”

To his credit, Dr. Arnall was also paid to come up with the formula for the happiest day of the year—July 14th. The formula is based on factors such as health, friends and family, calmness, mindfulness and more. For the Telegraph, Dr. Arnall had this to say about the happiest day of the year: “The formula addresses the core human fundamental issues head on to help people build and maintain their happiness and well-being in spite of a very uncertain world.”

Regardless of how you feel about Blue Monday or Dr. Arnall’s work, the reality is many people experience symptoms of SAD or depression during the winter months. Feelings of sadness, despair, and loneliness are heightened for many during the coldest and grayest days of the year. If you’re experiencing signs of SAD or depression, please talk to your mental health therapist or primary care physician about what you can do to help ease your symptoms. To learn more about SAD, check out our articles about the signs of SAD.