Will January 20th be the most depressing day of the year?

January 20, 2025 is called “Blue Monday”. Not because it’s also National Cheese Lovers’ Day, which could result in increased consumption of blue cheese. And not because it happens to be the day of the President’s Inauguration this year, which may be a happy day for some, but an unhappy one for others. No, because in 2005, a UK company called Sky Travel started naming the third Monday of January every year as “Blue Monday”. This travel company claimed that this is the day every year when happiness levels go south, meaning they fall to their lowest levels of the year. So the question is whether this claim was based on what is called science.

Blue Monday originated as a marketing gimmick

Well, surprise, surprise, no the claims there are based on actual scientific evidence. Yes, shocking but true. Apparently, the company worked with a UK-based psychologist named Cliff Arnall to develop a “depression formula”, which goes like this: [W+(D-d)] x TQ divided by M x NA. All these D’s and other letters can make you go WTH. Well, in this formula, W stands for the weather, D for your debt, d for your monthly salary, T for the time since Christmas, Q for the time since you’ve let go of something you’ve been trying to put off, M for low motivation levels and NA for the need to take action. From this formula, they somehow landed on the third Monday in January as the worst day of happiness. But it is unclear how this happened and what scientific evidence is behind this formula.

This is because the primary motivation for identifying Blue Monday may have been, please, drum roll, marketing rather than the advancement of science and health. Sky Travel was a travel company and not some kind of scientific research institute. And heck, if you can convince everyone that the third Monday of every January is going to be the most depressing of the year, maybe they’ll plan a getaway vacation around then. If you wanted to ask Sky Travel more about the origins of this Blue Monday claim, you’d be out of luck. Apparently, the sky is not the limit for this company as the business was shut down in 2010.

It also doesn’t make sense for one day to be particularly bad for everyone. Many happy things can happen on January 20. For example, it’s the aforementioned National Cheese Lovers Day. So if you like cheese, January 20th might be a particularly Gouda day for you, so to speak. Or you might be celebrating actor Rainn Wilson’s birthday if you’re a fan of him The office or Rainn Wilson himself. Regardless, remember, no single day of the year is universally great for everyone or universally terrible for everyone — not even Presidential Inauguration Day.

The perils of the Blue Monday concept

In general, expecting a particular day to be particularly good or particularly bad for no apparent reason may not be a particularly wise thing to do. It can create an expectation problem. Never underestimate the power of suggestion. Pessimism for a day can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, leaving you feeling depressed and down. You may even end up missing out on opportunities as you predict the day will be bad. After all, unless you have a time machine or access to the Quantum Realm like Ant-Man does, no one can tell if a given day will end up good or bad.

Additionally, this whole worst day of the year thing can end up simplifying and trivializing feelings and emotional states like depression, anxiety, or the ups and downs you’ll expect throughout the year. It can create a “you should immediately feel better the next day” dynamic that again raises unrealistic expectations. For example, if January 20 is supposed to be the worst day, what if you feel even worse on January 21, January 22, or beyond?

Keep in mind that emotional and mental health are not like a Slanket. They are not one size fits all and instead, much more complex. I wrote about Forbes for the need for more precise mental health, where assessments and treatments are better suited to different people and their different circumstances.

The benefits of the Blue Monday concept

All that being said, there is a huge potential benefit to the Blue Monday concept. It may bring more attention to why January in general—rather than a particular day in January—can be particularly difficult for multiple reasons:

• The weather can be cold and unpleasant in the Northern Hemisphere. Few would say they couldn’t feel their hands and face, with the possible exception of what the Weeknd referenced in that song. Plus, worse weather can keep people indoors, less able to enjoy the outdoors.
• Days can be short with less sunlight. And this can negatively affect the secretion of melatonin, which in turn can affect mood, energy and sleep patterns.
• Disappointed after the holidays. After all the holidays and whatever from the December holidays and New Year’s Eve and Day, January can feel a little empty of celebrations. January is also a time when many New Year’s resolutions fall by the wayside.

All of this makes all of January, and not just a single day of January, a prime month for seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD. SAD is when someone experiences depression during specific seasons, usually the winter seasons, and it affects about five percent of all U.S. adults for about 40 percent of the year, according to the American Psychiatric Association. Now, just because you don’t officially have SAD doesn’t mean you won’t get the winter blues and vice versa.

How to Fight the Winter Blues

Therefore, practicing self-care will be especially important this month. This means making sure you do the following:

• Expose yourself to sunlight.
• Get enough sleep
• Eat well.
• Exercise regularly.
• Avoid using drugs and alcohol.
• Stay connected with others.
• Consider professional help if needed.

And remember, what you may experience or feel on Blue Monday may not necessarily be the new order. Just because things are difficult now does not guarantee that they will be difficult in the future.