How to cheer yourself up on Blue Monday, named the most depressing day of the year
Once the festive cheer of Christmas the combination of shorter days and chilly, damp weather can compound a feeling of gloom as we approach the so-called "most depressing" day of the year – Blue Monday. This phrase signifies a day in January (typically the third Monday) proclaimed by a UK travel company, Sky Travel, as the year's most dismal.
Initially presented in a 2005 press release by the company, they claimed to have devised an "equation" to pinpoint this date, factoring in weather conditions pertinent only to the Northern Hemisphere. Despite their assertion, some dismiss this concept as pseudoscience. But to fair with the dark days and freezing weather you could be forgiven for felling a bit down. Here are more people from around the country discussing how they cheer themselves up.
Initially presented in a 2005 press release by the company, they claimed to have devised an "equation" to pinpoint this date, factoring in weather conditions pertinent only to the Northern Hemisphere. Despite their assertion, some dismiss this concept as pseudoscience. But to fair with the dark days and freezing weather you could be forgiven for felling a bit down. Here are more people from around the country discussing how they cheer themselves up.
Transcript
00:00 I think we all do get affected in January because, I don't know, it seems such a long
00:07 month. You get paid early in December for Christmas and then it seems such a long period
00:14 before you get money again in January. So, I don't think the only way, get out, have
00:22 a walk around, try and find things to do. It's the best thing I can suggest anyway.
00:29 Once the festive cheer of Christmas, the combination of shorter days and chilly, damp weather can
00:35 compound a feeling of gloom as we approach the so-called most depressing day of the year.
00:41 Next Monday has been proclaimed by a UK travel company Sky Travel as the year's most dismal.
00:48 Initially presented in a 2005 press release by the company, they claim to have devised
00:53 an equation to pinpoint this date, factoring in weather conditions pertinent only to the
00:58 Northern Hemisphere. Despite their assertion, some dismiss this concept as pseudoscience.
01:05 But to be fair, with the dark days and freezing weather, you could be forgiven for feeling
01:10 a bit down. Here's more from people around the country discussing how they cheer themselves
01:16 up. Well, you just try and lift your spirits in any way you can, I suppose. I just try
01:21 to do the best that I can, really. I'm beating the January blows next Monday because I'm
01:27 going to the Caribbean for three weeks. Simple as that.
01:33 My tip, and I do it every day, especially at this time of year, I check the sunset times
01:38 and you can literally see that every day you get a minute more daylight and that actually
01:42 really sustains me. I know it's sad, but true.
01:45 I quite like January actually, and all of a sudden I feel Christmassy at last. As soon
01:50 as it starts snowing, I love the snow. I don't like the cold, but I love it when it snows
01:55 and I quite like January because I actually feel like I'm one of these people that like
02:01 to change their life, try new things, albeit for six weeks before I run out of enthusiasm.
02:07 I don't know what it is. I think maybe because we know that it's coming up, maybe psychologically
02:12 you make yourself worse because you know it's happening. I don't know. I just find it just
02:18 a bleak... Everybody looks miserable and I don't know. If it snowed, it'd be something
02:23 to look forward to. It doesn't even do that. It's just cold.
02:26 I mean, if anybody's really depressed, they should watch a Marx Brothers film or Laurel
02:32 and Hardy or a bit of Tim Vine on TV. It'll cheer you up. No matter how bad things are,
02:44 there's always something that can get you out of that.
02:49 I read a lot, so I suppose I find reading quite relaxing.
02:53 TV's my best mate. You like your TV.
02:55 Just watch some series.
02:56 Yeah. Well, TV's company as well, as you normally know, for people who are alone. I think it
03:02 fills time, doesn't it?
03:03 Yeah, it's my best mate.