Blue Monday
Blue Monday is a name given to a date stated, as part of a publicity campaign by Sky Travel, to be the most depressing day of the year.
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.[1] 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.”[2]
According to a press release by a mental health charity[3], 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=Na. ‘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, Goldacre stated: … the fact is that Cliff Arnall’s equations … fail even to make mathematical sense on their own terms.[1]
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 25 January in 2010.
Mr Arnall also says, in a press release commissioned by Wall’s ice cream,[9] that he has calculated the happiest day of the year – in 2005, 24 June,[10] in 2006, 23 June,[11] in 2008, 20 June[12] and in 2009 19 June.[13] So far, this date has fallen close to Midsummer.
Ok, so this isn’t why, but it is funny…so maybe it’s worthwhile after all. Nah, probably not.
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Gee, thanks for telling us all the variables, and the units, and how to measure them. Thanks science, thanks a lot.
The real reason you’re feeling blue is because you spend too much time playing video games and surfing the internet instead of developing meaningful relationship with real people.
Is that what I was supposed to do? Damn. Is it too late to start? 😉
Not you in particular, nyokki. But I truly believe that most of modern malaise is from a lack of healthy socialization.
I was trying to figure out how to word my comment so that you’d know I wasn’t replying as if it were me you meant. I failed. 😉
I do agree though, the ability to socialize seems to be an extremely important survival tool in terms of evolution. We need each other to be happy. Those w/out the few very important people in their lives are shown to be less content, less secure and generally more depressed than those w/ close ties to other people.