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1. What do you think are the underlying causes of Blue Monday? Is it just a single day, or a symptom of larger societal issues?

2. How do you think Blue Monday is portrayed in the media? Is it portrayed accurately or is it sensationalized?

3. How do you think companies and organizations can support their employees on Blue Monday?

4. How do you think the concept of Blue Monday can be adapted to other cultures and societies?

5. If you were to organize an event to combat the effects of Blue Monday, what would it look like?

6. How do you think technology and social media affect our experience of Blue Monday?

7. How do you think Blue Monday is perceived by people of different ages and backgrounds?

8. How do you think Blue Monday is related to mental health and well-being?

9. How do you think Blue Monday could be used as an opportunity for personal growth and self-reflection?

10. Can you think of a creative way to spread awareness and positivity on Blue Monday?

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Simple present tense: "Blue Monday is a term used to describe the feeling of sadness or depression that some people experience on the third Monday of January."

Present continuous tense: "Many people are feeling down today because it's Blue Monday."

Past simple tense: "Blue Monday was first identified by a British psychologist in 2005."

Present perfect tense: "Scientists have studied the effects of Blue Monday on mental health for several years."

Future tense: "Some experts predict that Blue Monday will become more widely recognized in the future."

Conditional tense: "If you're feeling down on Blue Monday, there are many things you can do to improve your mood."

Passive voice: "The term Blue Monday was coined by a British psychologist."

Modal verbs: "It may be difficult for some people to shake off the feeling of sadness on Blue Monday."

Conditional sentences: "If more awareness is raised about Blue Monday, more people will know how to cope with it."

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1. What is Blue Monday and where did the term come from?

2. What are the most common reasons people feel sad on this day?

3. What are the effects of Blue Monday on our mental and physical health?

4. What are ways to cope with Blue Monday?

5. What are the pros and cons of the "fake it till you make it" approach when it comes to Blue Monday?

6. What are the differences in approach to Blue Monday in different cultures and countries?

7. Are there ways to prevent Blue Monday?

8. What is the most important message of Blue Monday for us?

9. What are your personal thoughts on Blue Monday and what advice do you have for others?

10. What are your plans for Blue Monday to help you enjoy the day?

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Editor's Note: Sign up for CNN's Stress, But Less newsletter. Our six-part mindfulness guide will inform and inspire you to reduce stress while learning how to harness it.

As if we needed any more reason to ruminate over pandemiclife's daily plights, today (January 16) is Blue Monday - the third Monday of January, which is rumored to be the most depressing day of the year.

But is it?

Research hasn't proved that there is any one day more depressing than all the others, but it's actually a PR stunt that has unfortunatelycemented itself into modern culture. Every January now, blogs share their tips for how people can save themselves from the gloom, companies jump at the chance to promote their feel-good products and services,and social media follow suit.

Origin of a health myth

Blue Monday began with anewsrelease.

In 2005, the now-defunct UK TV channel Sky Travel sent journalists an excited promotional announcement that, with the help of a psychologist, it hadcalculated the most miserable day of the year.

The team had apparently worked it out with a complex formula developed by UK-basedpsychologist Cliff Arnall. It considered factors such as the weather to devise people's lowest point.

The formula was meant to analyze when people booked holidays, assuming that people were most likely to buy a ticket to paradise when they were feeling down. Arnall was asked to come up with the best day to book a holiday trip, so he thought of reasons why people might want to take a holiday - and thus, the gloomiest day of the year was born.

"There is generally more sadness in the winter time and January is not uncommon at all for overall more sadness among folks," said Dr. Ravi Shah, a psychiatrist at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center in New York City. "So rather than dial in to one specific day, I think the more interesting question is what it is about the winter that affects our mood."

Some fuel stoking the Blue Monday fire could also be the phenomenon that's based on research from Japan. In 2009, the suicide ratio for Mondays for Japanese men was significantly higher than on other days of the week, especially for those in the "productive age" category - suggesting that the structure of the work week and economic struggles were to blame.

Blue Monday isn't scientifically sound

Arnall's formula looks the part: [W+(D-d)]xTQ/MxNA. Upon closer inspection, however, the variables involved are subjective and plainly unscientific. W, for instance, stands for weather. D is debt and d is monthly salary, while T means time since Christmas and Q is the time since you gave up on your New Year's resolution.

None of the factors he included can be measured, or compared by the same units. The formula can't be adequately assessed or verified. For example, there is no way to measure the average number of days since people slipped up on their New Year's resolution. And January's weather varies among different states, countries and continents. In short, thereisno scientific merit to it.

"I had no idea it would gain the popularity that it has," Arnall told CNN. "I guess a lot of people recognize it in themselves."

Arnall has also claimed to campaign against his own idea of Blue Monday as part of the "activist group" Stop Blue Monday. But that group, as it turned out, was also a marketing campaign - this time for winter tourism to the Canary Islands.

Now, he told CNN, he'd do it again.

"I don't regret it at all," he said, adding he has "used the media" on several occasions with the intention of starting conversations about psychology.

"My problem with academic psychology and peer reviewed publications ... they don't really make that much difference to regular people," added Arnall, who was paid £1,200 to come up with Blue Monday.

That's not a popular view in the profession, however.

"This is not the right way to raise awareness," saidDr. Antonis Kousoulis, director of the UK Mental Health Foundation's efforts for England and Wales. "By saying this single day is the most depressing day of the year, without any evidence, we are trivialising how serious depression can be."

"Mental health is the biggest health challenge of our generation," he added. "Trivializing it is completely unacceptable."

"Depression is not a single day phenomenon," Shah said. "Depression is a clinical syndrome that has to be at least two weeks, most of the day, most days over time."

However, the winter blues are real

Critics of the concept of a "Blue Monday" have held that attributing clinical depression to external causes - such as the idea that the number of days since Christmas may adversely affect peopleinfluenced byit - by suggesting their condition could be solved with something as easy as booking a vacation to a sunny beach.

What is real is the winter blues, more clinicallyknown as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. It's a form of depression that people experience usually during the fall and winter months when there is less sunlight. The most difficult months for people with SAD in the US tend to be January and February, but it improves with the arrival of spring.

Psychology Today reported that SAD is estimated to affect 10 million Americans, and that another 10% to 20% may have mild symptoms. For 5% of adults whoexperience SAD, for about 40% of the year they have symptoms that can be overwhelming and can interfere with their daily lives.

The condition has been linked to a biochemical imbalance in the brain prompted by shorter daylight hours and less sunlight in winter. As seasons change, people experience a shift in their biological internal clock, or circadian rhythm, that can cause them to be out of sync with their regular schedule.

Common symptoms of SAD include fatigue despite how much a person sleeps, and weight gain associated with overeating and carbohydrate cravings, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Other signs include feelings of sadness, loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, trouble concentrating or making decisions, thoughts of death or suicide, and even suicide attempts.

The onset of SAD can occur at any age, but typically starts between the ages of 18 and 30 and is more common in women than in men.

How to combat seasonal affective disorder

The easiest way to start taking action against SAD is to focus on light exposure, Shah said. "If you can't get natural sunlight, buy a light box," he said.

Light therapy involves sitting in front of a light therapy box that emits very bright light for a minimum of 20 minutes per day. Most people see improvements from this method within one or two weeks of beginning treatment.

In anticipation of the return of symptoms in late fall, some people begin light therapy in early fall to prevent them.

Increased exposure to sunlight can help improve symptoms as well. Those prone to symptoms may want to spend more time outside or arrange a sitting area in your house that is exposed to a window during the day. Antidepressants and talk therapy are effective in treating SAD as well.

Taking holistic care of your health can also help: exercising regularly, eating well, sleeping enough when you can and staying connected with family and friends. Talk to your doctor, too, as SAD can be a manageable condition with the right diagnosis and treatment.

"If you keep yourself active physically, mentally and socially and use a light box, that's going to go a long way," Shah said.

Smart light bulbs, which can be activated by a Google Home or Amazon Echo device, can help you gently fall asleep or wake up by slowly brightening or dimming. Weighted blankets have been beneficial for people who struggle with insomnia and anxiety.

The concept of Blue Monday was a relatable idea at best and a travel marketing scheme that probably didn't work. But why stop there?Arnall later devised a formula determining the happiest day of the year, sponsored by an ice cream company, even though many find solace in the treat when they are least happy.

So, if you're feeling OK today on Blue Monday, don't anticipate that the day will hold impending doom. If you're struggling with SAD, know that help is available for you.

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The 'Blue Monday' depression peak isn't real, but seasonal blues are. Here's what to do | CNN

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Today is Blue Monday, which is rumored to be the most depressing day of the year. But is it? Research hasn't proved that there is any one day more depressing than all the others. It's a PR stunt that has cemented itself into modern culture.

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Blue Monday online worksheet for Pre-Intermediate. You can do the exercises online or download the worksheet as pdf.

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What is Blue Monday? Most Depressing Day of the Year?

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Rumor has it that the most depressing day of the year, known as Blue Monday, occurs on the third Monday in January. Is the world actually experiencing depression simultaneously, or is it pseudoscience used to prey on consumers dealing with the 'winter blues'? Here's everything you need to know:
What is Blue Monday?

Blue Monday is a concept conceived by psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2005. The now-defunct U.K. travel company Sky Travel hired Arnall to help figure out when people are most likely to book vacations. Arnall, working as a part-time tutor at Cardiff University's Centre for Lifelong Learning at the time, determined that people are likely to travel when they're feeling down. Hence, he set out to calculate the most depressing day of the year. He devised a formula that consists of seven variables: the weather, debt, monthly salary, time elapsed since Christmas and failed New Year's resolutions, motivational levels, and the need to take action.

Sky Travel circulated a press release for the first Blue Monday, Jan. 24, 2005, encouraging people to hop on their winter travel deals to beat the blues, and the concept took on a life of its own. Since then, various companies have used Blue Monday as part of their PR campaigns. While many critics have questioned the scientific accuracy of Blue Monday, the concept has evolved into a way to label the dark days of January and the gloomy mood that seems to linger after the holidays are over.

When is Blue Monday 2023?

Based on Arnall's formula, Blue Monday falls every year on the third Monday of January. That will make the supposed most depressing day of 2023 Monday, Jan. 16, or Martin Luther King Jr. Day if you're in the United States. According to the formula, this will be the day when people are most likely to be depressed due to the bleak winter weather, post-holiday season blues, and guilt over abandoning New Year's resolutions.

Is it really the most depressing day of the year?

Probably, not. The concept has been debunked as pseudoscience, and some experts say it creates more harm than good. Arnall has even taken to speaking out against the idea in the years since he started it. He went as far as to claim to be part of an "activist group" called Stop Blue Monday. However, that turned out to be another PR campaign with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays for winter vacations in the Canary Islands.

A 2021 report by CNN pointed out that though "Arnall's formula looks the part," it "can't be adequately assessed or verified." None of the variables he included in his formula can be measured against each other using the same units.

"For example, there's no way to measure the average number of days since people slipped up on their New Year's resolution. And January's weather varies among different states, countries, and continents," CNN declared. Numerous experts have echoed those sentiments over the years. Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist who has spoken out against Blue Monday in The Guardian numerous times, has described the work as "farcical" with "nonsensical measurements." Burnett also considered the trend "disrespectful to those who suffer from genuine depression, suggesting that it is temporary, minor, and experienced by everyone, rather than what may be a chronic and incapacitating condition."

Mental health practitioners have warned that attempting to associate depression with one day a year based on arbitrary calculations could trivialize the experiences of people dealing with diagnosed clinical conditions, such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), colloquially known as seasonal depression. Symptoms of SAD include persistent daily depression, irritability, fatigue, loss of appetite, and suicidal ideation, among other things, per the National Institute of Mental Health.

"There is generally more sadness in the winter time and January is not uncommon at all for overall more sadness among folks," said Dr. Ravi Shah, a psychiatrist at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, told CNN. "So rather than dial in to one specific day, I think the more interesting question is what it is about the winter that affects our mood."

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Rumor has it that the most depressing day of the year, known as Blue Monday, occurs on the third Monday in January. Is the world actually experiencing depression simultaneously, or is it pseudoscience used to prey on consumers dealing with the 'winter blues'?