This has been the expression for around fifteen years “Blue Monday” appears again in January on social networks and in the media… The “Most depressing Monday of the year” falls on January 15th this year, in a particularly dark context.

Problem: This concept, supposedly based on a psychologist’s scientific calculations, only exists in the minds of marketers. Decoding this “wrong” with commercial goals, far from real psychological problems.

Where does this invention come from?

Blue Monday (inspired by the English expression). be sad“being depressed”) would irrefutably rank the third Monday in January as the most depressing day of the year…according to a purported 2005 scientific study based on the following equation:

Why is it wrong?

• This equation is more of a joke than arithmetic: certain factors are not quantifiable (weather, lack of motivation, etc.).

• Its author, Cliff Arnall, who presents himself as a psychologist, himself admitted in 2010 that there was nothing scientific behind this calculationand that it was commissioned by an advertising company on behalf of the travel agency Sky Travel. Ironically, he has since campaigned for “abolition” as part of a campaign by the Tourism Committee of the Canary Islands (Spain).

“Such calculations threaten the public’s understanding of science and psychology. It is also disrespectful to those who suffer from real depression because it implies that it is a temporary and insignificant experience that everyone suffers from.”, recalls neuroscientist Dean Burnett in Guardian.

Aside from the moral problem posed by the spread of pseudoscience, Blue Monday, which was merely a commercial operation, may also encourage a worrying phenomenon of compulsive spending. According to a study by the British Money and Mental Health Institute, out of 5,500 people who suffer from mental disorders, Nine out of ten people spend more money when they are not well. Purchases trigger feelings of guilt, which can lead to further purchases ” to feel better “… triggering one Vicious circle that is well described by many psychologists.

[Une première version de cet article a été publiée en janvier 2019.]