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Blue Monday: the myth about sadness and how to cope with it

2023-01-16T19:46:01.138Z


The myth of "Blue Monday" was born by a 2005 British marketing campaign and says that the third Monday of the year is the saddest day.


Is there a "Blue Monday" or saddest day of the year?

2:17

(CNN Spanish) --

If there is a day of the week that generates little devotion, it could well be Monday.

It is the day in which many resume their activities and return to the routine after a weekend of rest.

Hence, for some it is presented as an uphill.

Now, there is a Monday that combines the worst of all the others and it is known as Blue Monday.

The concept, which originates from a British marketing campaign in 2005, places the most depressing day of the year on the third Monday in January.

However, as Mercedes Bermejo, psychologist and member of the Official College of Psychology of Madrid, points out, this day "was determined without any type of scientific evidence based on a formula proposed by different variables that have to do with the return of the Christmas and New Year holidays, the sum of the expenses and excesses during the festivities, as well as the weather conditions”.

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In short, the negative value conferred on this journey is not real.

Although there are periods in which one can experience states of sadness with more probability.

“This time makes me very sad.

January, above all, because there is no light”, confesses Irene, a resident of Madrid, when we stop her in the center of Madrid and ask her what makes her sad.

Alberto, originally from Albacete, is sad to be away from his family, since they live in different cities.

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“Many studies do speak of the fact that the weather and the environment influence mood.

As well as the holidays, as well as when we achieve our goals.

Also at an economic level, we all know that the January slope is complicated, ”says Bermejo, in line with Irene's opinion.

  • Is 'Blue Monday' the saddest day of the year?

Despite his bad reputation, Bermejo stresses that sadness is a normal emotion, even necessary since "extreme and constant happiness does not exist, our mood fluctuates."

According to him, psychologists often find themselves in their consultations with patients who have learned in their environment to avoid this feeling, to prohibit it and not externalize it.

Something that he recommends avoiding, because this “allows us to connect with ourselves, be in our own duels and at peace, calm.

These emotional states help us to be much more calm and relieved when we have to enjoy other more pleasant emotions such as joy”.

How to cope with sadness?

Asking about the center of Madrid, the answers are varied.

Marta, a resident of the Spanish capital, confesses that when she feels down, she prefers to eat something sweet;

while her partner, Adrián, chooses to improvise a plan that forces him to leave the house.

Mariano, another of the citizens we surveyed, prefers to raise his spirits by seeing his friends and loved ones.

In this sense, Bermejo points out that the important thing when sadness overwhelms us is to bury the taboo and "promote spaces where there is emotional communication, not only pleasant but also unpleasant emotions."

As a first step, the psychologist recommends becoming aware of how you feel and, later, looking for that place or space "where you can express it and where you can also find comfort and then be in other, more pleasant states."

Blue Monday Monday

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2023-01-16

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