Blue Monday (date)

Blue Monday is a name given to a date in January stated, as part of a publicity campaign by Sky Travel, to be the most depressing day of the year. However, the whole concept is considered pseudoscience,^[1] with its formula derided by scientists as nonsense.

History

This date was published in a press release under the name of Cliff Arnall, at the time a tutor at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, a Further Education centre attached to Cardiff University. Guardian columnist Dr. Ben Goldacre reported that the press release was delivered substantially pre-written to a number of academics by public relations agency Porter Novelli, who offered them money to put their names to it.^[2] The Guardian later printed a statement from Cardiff University distancing themselves from Arnall: "Cardiff University has asked us to point out that Cliff Arnall... was a former part-time tutor at the university but left in February."^[3]

Date

This date allegedly falls on the Monday of the last full week of January. The date was declared by Arnall to be 24 January in 2005,^[4] 23 January in 2006,^[5] 22 January in 2007,^[6] 21 January in 2008,^[7] 19 January in 2009^[8] and 18 January in 2010. In 2011 there was confusion about the correct date; some claimed it to be 17 January 2011^[9] while others stated Blue Monday was on 24 January 2011.^[10][11][12] In 2012, the most depressing day of the year was said to be 23 January.^[1][13][14] In 2013, Blue Monday was reported to be on 21 January, ^[15] and 20 January in 2014.^{[16] [11]}

Calculation

According to a press release by a mental health charity,^[8] the formula is:

where weather=W, debt=d, time since Christmas=T, time since failing our new year’s resolutions=Q, low motivational levels=M and the feeling of a need to take action=N_a. 'D' is not defined in the release, nor are units.

Arnall says the date was calculated by using many factors, including: weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action. Writing about the calculation, Ben Goldacre stated: "... the fact is that Cliff Arnall's equations ... fail even to make mathematical sense on their own terms."^[2] Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist who has worked in the psychology department of Cardiff University, has described the formula as "farcical", with "nonsensical measurements".^[17]

Happiest day

Mr Arnall also says, in a press release commissioned by Wall's,^[18] that he has calculated the happiest day of the year—in 2005, 24 June,^[19] in 2006, 23 June,^[20] in 2008, 20 June^[21] in 2009, 19 June, ^[22] and in 2010, 18 June.^[23] So far, this date has fallen close to Midsummer in the Northern Hemisphere (June 21 to 24).

References

External links

• BBC pages referencing Blue Monday 2005 2009 2012