No, it’s not just a song by New Order, Blue Monday is a psychological phenomenon, or at least a pseudoscience one, where the third Monday in January is deemed the most depressing day of the year.
Everyone is broke, resolutions are out the door, and we have finally come down from the sugar high and gargle gluttony of Christmas. But hey, there’s always the lovely weather to enjoy.
The phrase Blue Monday was coined by psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall in 2005, and was originally devised for a travel firm to sell more holidays.
His highly disputed equation broke down into several factors: weather, debt, monthly salary, time since Christmas, low motivational levels and other pop psychology stuff.
Even Dr Arnall himself was sceptical of Blue Monday and in a 2010 interview with The Telegraph, he asked people to “refute the whole notion” and be cheerful instead.
But if the pseudoscience really is getting the better of you here are a few suggestions to counter that Blue Monday feeling.
Do a stupid thing
Organise a three-legged race with a few friends; arrange a PowerPoint presentation on conspiracy theories you actually believe; try to crack an egg in the crook of your elbow. Do anything except scroll on your phone. Novelty can trick the brain into having a good time and distract from the endless nothing that is January.
Do a sensible thing
If you’re going to be miserable this Monday, you might as well do something that will benefit you. Get on to Revenue and claim tax back. Or switch energy provider, wifi or phone contract and save money. Or book your NCT. Personal admin is not something anyone enjoys in a good mood, so you may as well do it while in a foul one.
Steffi Otto, of Heritage Craft Alive in Leitrim, shows Dara Dunne, from Terenure, how to make a St Brigid’s Cross, at Brigit Imbolc Fair in Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Make and sell St Brigid’s Crosses
People on the e-trading site Vinted are posting listings of St Brigid’s crosses for €15 and €8 a pop, excluding shipping. Really. What’s stopping you from a lucrative side hustle with the rushes? Better still, outsource the labour to schoolchildren.
[ Blue Monday – a Letter to the Editor: ‘If you are struggling, don’t feel ashamed’Opens in new window ]
Get entertained
What better way to mollify ourselves than through full immersion in books, music, podcasts, films or TV shows. Check out Patrick Freyne’s review of raunchy romance Heated Rivalry, or if you fancy seeing something devastating but beautiful, Hamnet starring Irish Golden Globe winner Jessie Buckley is still in cinemas.
Book a holiday
Embrace the true and original consumerist spirit that Blue Monday was conceived in: book a holiday. “But I am broke,” I hear you cry. I didn’t say pay for a holiday, did I?
Call in sick to work
Possibly the only idea on this list that is free, fun and low effort is calling in a duvet day. So, if all else fails, what can be better than cereal in bed and Come Dine with Me reruns? Sure there’s terrible bugs going around at the minute – that’s what makes everything so depressing.