Blue Monday

Earlier this week, we hit the infamous “Blue Monday,” Hit what now? Yes, Blue Monday is usually the 3rd Monday of January and supposedly the bleakest point of the year. It’s dark, it’s cold, xmas is long passed and there’s still a bit to go before we get paid, so on top of all that we’re skint.

Those are some common sense observations for things that can be negatively affecting our mood at this time of year, but ultimately Blue Monday itself is a pseudoscience.

Back in 2005 psychologist Cliff Arnall came up with it using some easily disproven mathematics to calculate the most depressing day of the year to help a holiday company sell trips. During the bleakest, darkest part of the year, why not think about a trip to sunnier climes? Following that lead, lots of other companies looking to sell us things jumped on to the ‘treat yourself’ Blue Monday train and before long, and it was a thing, even after Cliff Arnall came out to say it was nonsense.

In the real world, depression doesn’t really care what day it is and Blue Monday is just another calendar day.

What is more useful, and this is what organisations like the Samaritans and Mind have been doing in their recent campaigns is using Blue Monday as an opportunity to talk more generally about Mental Health and how we can look after ourselves. Mind took quite a serious route, pointing out that the popularisation of ‘Blue Monday’ as a sales gimmick risks trivialising depression and seasonal affective disorder, and that depression can be a problem any day of the year. Here are some of their tips for spotting the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder and actions you can take.

The Samaritans brilliant ‘brewmonday' campaign is a prompt to reach out and catch up with someone over a cuppa and you could even raise funds from brewmonday events to support the organisation. Who haven’t you seen in a while? Wouldn’t a catch-up over a nice cup of tea hit the spot right now? What a great idea!

So if I’m not making it abundantly clear, Blue Monday itself is a nonsense. The 19th January 2026 has been and gone and you made it through. Congratulations! But if Blue Monday must hang around in our culture let’s use it as a way to talk seriously about Mental health and think about what we need to support us. Now, who’s for a cuppa?

If you’d like to work with me on your mental health, you can get in touch with me via the website or drop me a message directly at mckellarcbt@gmail.com