Blue Monday Or Brew Monday?

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Blue Monday is almost upon us – or is it? The third working Monday of the month of January is oft claimed to be the most depressing day of the year but the Samaritans claim it is a myth…but do advocate a communal tea break to cheer your workforce up.

Yep, Monday 22 January could be bleak for a number of reasons – train strikes, energy bills rising, the weather getting colder, people are just hanging on until pay day – and they`ve already broken those new year resolutions.

Of course, the weather thing only happens in the northern hemisphere – although some would argue being broke and it being too hot are a downer ever if you are in Oz.

Mind you, some in the southern hemisphere will only have just over five months before celebrating their festival of light – it’s a two Christmases a year kind of thing…one when it is boiling hot on the beach and the other when it is dark and chilly but the solstice signals the return of longer days.

Meanwhile, back in Blighty, we’ve got a whopping 339 days from Monday 22 January until 25 December 2025 – with a painful extra day because it’s a leap year.

Brew Monday

The Samaritans, an organisation that knows there can be a tipping point for people in crisis, claim that Blue Monday is a fiction of a travel firm that once put the notion out as an advertising campaign – and encouraged people to book a holiday to look forward to with a deposit from their next pay check.

Notwithstanding that, the Samaritans do advise employers that the last weeks of January can focus people’s minds into unhappy places and suggest making a fuss of employees with simple things such as doughnuts and tea one morning (possibly Monday) might let them know you are thinking of them – and you can always slip into a conversation that you or the management team are available if anyone is struggling. And of course, Mates in Mind, would advise, that colleagues should all step up and ask their mates – ‘are you OK’?

Happy days

There is also no truth in the suggestion that 21-24 June are the happiest days of the year – but there is no harm in putting a note in your calendars to break out the ice creams as a pat on the back always works wonders.

Anyone can contact Samaritans, free, any time from any phone on 116 123.

Picture: Time for a Monday brew? Although 22 January is the fourth Monday in the month, the first Monday was New Year’s Day. If Blue Monday were to exist, it would be that first day of the working week that seems furthest away from Christmas and the payday break from being a bit skint. 

www.samaritans.org

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
19th January 2024

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