Why is today considered the saddest day of the year?

Today is Blue Monday, or Blue Monday. The saddest day of the year falls every third Monday of January (“blue” in English actually means “sadness”). On that day, in fact, there are higher levels of depression in people than on other days, although this year, most likely, sadness may be even more pronounced than usual.

Why does the date fall on a Monday and why in January? Well, it’s not by chance, the first day of the week, in fact, it’s usually the return to work day after the weekend, and besides, this period of January is a time of year when you are away from any holiday or celebration. The good mood provided by the Christmas holidays, by the way, is now just a distant memory, just as the beginning of spring or summer is a distant mirage, periods that, psychologically, are associated with the sun, the sea, vacations and carefree . But let’s find out in more detail when and how this recent trend was born.

The Origin of “Blue Monday”

The definition of “blue Monday” was born in 2005 in Great Britain and is attributed to psychologist Cliff Arnall, from the University of Cardiff. The same, incidentally, published an article in The Guardian magazine in which he identified the exact formula to analyze the trends of travel agency customers in travel reservations.

Arnall took into account in his calculations several factors such as, for example, the distance from Christmas, the failure of the resolutions that are stipulated with the beginning of the new year, dealing with upcoming expenses, the motivation to act and also the weather conditions. With this analysis, the psychologist realized that what leads a person to book a trip or vacation is a condition of deep dissatisfaction, which reaches its maximum level on the third Monday of January.

Today, instead of the sad consideration that we are at the psychological dead end of the year, Blue Monday is also a fact that marketers use with targeted campaigns. Its scientific nature, in fact, has so far been denied and Cardiff University itself has distanced itself from this claim.

Blue Monday is considered a public relations stunt, but effective seasonal disorder is a illness that affects 10 million Americans – according to an article by CNN🇧🇷

What is the difference between sadness and depression?

We at CLAUDIA are looking for a psychoanalyst to talk about the Blue Monday. Francisco Nogueira says that many people do not know the difference between sadness and depression, and explains the difference. “Depression is usually associated with a syndromic condition, more or less severe, usually recognized by the characteristic changes in mood, such as deep sadness and/or melancholy that does not go away, apathy, loss of contact with one’s feelings, among other symptoms. ”, explains. Sadness is a message. “It’s just a communication that something is going on in our internal world, not necessarily an illness, as in the case of depression. It is not because we are facing a sad moment that this sadness will lead us to depression”, he says.

Nogueira gives tips on how to face the bad days. “It is very interesting that we can have a day to remember the sadness, the melancholy, the depression. In a world that values ​​certain ideals of beauty, success and happiness so much. In this sense, the tip I can give is to find spaces or moments to talk about mental suffering. This goes through the recognition, acceptance and sharing of our pains. Seek professional help with a psychologist or a psychoanalyst, is also always important”, he points out.

Given the importance of people being heard and finding environments to share their feelings and anxieties, Nogueira – with the help of professional colleagues – created the free action “Experiência d’Escuta“. It is not a therapeutic treatment, although some people feel this effect, it consists of mental health professionals listening to people who need care, but without giving any professional opinion so as not to turn into a therapeutic consultation.

“It’s not online therapy, it’s not online psychology. The proposal is to offer a reception with a technical listening session lasting 30 minutes”, says Nogueira and completes.” This idea, this work methodology, has been developed by me since 2016 and was shared with other professionals so that this attitude could happen”, she emphasizes.

The project takes place free of charge, to participate simply register on the website: https://www.experienciadeescuta.com.br/. There, you can book the best time, contact form (video call or voice call) and a professional will answer and listen to you. (Contributed by Nathalie Oliveira)