Is ‘Blue Monday’ Actually Each Year’s Most Depressing Day?
Forbes says Is this “Blue Monday” claim a true Monday claim? In 2005, Sky Travel, a company in the U.K., began labeling the third Monday of January each year as “Blue Monday.” The company claimed that it’s the day when happiness levels fall to the lowest levels of the year. So since tomorrow, January 15, will be the third Monday of 2024, should you be prepared for a particularly rough day? Or is this whole “Blue Monday” claim a bit—how shall we say it—bogus?
Well, you may want to get your “bogus” file ready for yet another entry. Samar McCutcheon, MD, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, called the whole thing a “marketing gimmick.” She explained that the travel company “wanted to increase business by claiming they had found the most depressing day of the year and were hoping it would encourage customers to travel more during this time.” It’s not clear how successful this gimmick was in drumming up more more business. One indication is that Sky Travel is no longer in business. This gimmick, though, was quite successful in drumming up attention for itself as the “Blue Monday” legacy has ended up outliving the company.