Blue Monday 2022: When is it, what does it mean and is it a real phenomenon?

If you find yourself feeling extra down later in the month, don’t be alarmed because one day in January is actually thought to be the most depressing day of the year.

Dubbed ‘Blue Monday’ it is claimed that the third Monday of January is when people feel the most down every year.

In 2022 this falls on January 17 – which is the coming Monday.

The concept as first widely publicised as part of a campaign from holiday company Sky Travel in 2005, which claimed to have calculated the date using an equation.

For those who do not think Blue Monday is just a marketing gimmick, it is a time when people need a pick-me-up as the festive season is well and truly over, bills have arrived and there is still a couple of weeks until payday.

Other factors may be that the weather is not great and new year resolutions could already be a thing of the past.

The Samaritans are determined to turn Blue Monday into Brew Monday, by offering people a cup of tea.

The charity wants to turn today into a positive day.

They said volunteers are going to be getting people ‘to connect over a warming cuppa’. It is also be the chance to raise money for Samaritans so that people who are having a tough time can have somewhere to turn when they need to talk.

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A person's mood on Blue Monday could be made worse by the potential of them going into the red financially, according to Lisa Fernihough, head of financial services consultancy KPMG UK.

Trying to deal with debts and loans will be the biggest expenditure for 14 per cent of the UK in January, according to a study for KPMG of 2,000 adults.

Ms Fernihough said: ‘Over half of UK consumers are forced to rely on extra cash to keep afloat for the month, that is bound to put considerable strain on people day to day.

‘On Blue Monday, many will no doubt feel a very long way from both their last, pre-Christmas, payday and the next - which can really heighten the challenge.

‘There's no silver bullet for improving people's finances - but clearly either income, lifestyle or financial literacy is far from where it needs to be.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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