Blue Monday: ridiculous idea hides a serious issue

BLUE MONDAY, supposedly the most depressing day of the year, is here again – and as night follows day, so an avalanche of mockery has followed in its wake.
 
Blue Monday began in 2005 as a press release concocted by 'Cardiff University psychologist' Dr Cliff Arnall and the now-defunct Sky Travel. It contained an equation that claimed to show the third Monday in January is the most depressing of the year because of a combination of factors such as the weather, number of days since employees' last pay day and length of time until the next public holiday.
 
Seven years on, the newspaper articles explaining why Blue Monday is just pseudo-science have become as much a tradition as the 'news story' itself.
 
The Times is in flippant mood. In a brief article illustrated with a grey seal pup holding its head with its flipper, the writer suggests the animal might have adopted this posture because of the January blues. "If, however, it is a sceptical seal, it may be smiting its brow in exasperation at the folly of any human who gives credence to the story that today is 'Blue Monday'."
 
The Guardian's science blog takes the story marginally more seriously with a piece written by Cardiff University psychologist Dean Burnett. He kicks off by clarifying Dr Arnall's credentials. "Dr Arnall briefly taught some psychology-related evening classes at the university's adult education centre. Apparently, this makes him a Cardiff University psychologist. Using that logic, I'm an Asda manager because I once made one of their staff fetch me a discount chicken."
 
On the issue of the notorious Blue Monday equation, he explains that "pseudo-science regularly presented as genuine science in the mainstream media harms the public understanding of science and psychology.
 
"It's also disrespectful to those who suffer from genuine depression, suggesting that it is temporary, minor and experienced by everyone, rather than what may be a chronic and incapacitating condition."
 
Alastair Campbell, former spin doctor to Tony Blair, agrees that Blue Monday is "PR nonsense" but believes that "anything that gets people talking about mental illness is a good thing". He is taking part in a Blue Monday-themed event today which draws attention to mental health in the workplace.
 
"It is hard enough for people with mental health problems to get into the labour market at the best of times," Campbell writes on his blog. "These are not the best of times, so it is even harder. That is why we have to highlight the stigma and discrimination, and also the benefits to companies from being open-minded when seeing a mental health history or problem written down on a CV." ·