Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Blue Monday and the Winter Blahs

By Josh Pastoor, Regional Director

In our Fort St. John staff meetings, we always have a spot on the agenda to bring up safety concerns around our workplace. Last week, one of my colleagues noted the emotional challenges experienced by many this time of year, and encouraged all of us to practice compassion with others and ourselves.

Most of us have likely heard of “Blue Monday,” the third Monday of January believed to be the day where a perfect storm of negativity—post-holiday blues, consumer debt, cold and dark winter weather, and failed New Year’s resolutions—converge to produce our saddest day of the year.

That got me thinking … and Googling. It turns out that the concept of Blue Monday is believed to have been popularized by a travel agency marketing campaign in an effort to get January consumers to open up their (mostly) empty wallets, or borrow money they don’t have, and book a holiday somewhere warm for a temporary reprieve from their misery.

I stumbled upon loads of websites offering helpful tips to beat the January winter blues—mostly advertising specific products to buy. But then I was drawn to other, more reputable-looking webpages, deriding the Blue Monday concept as ridiculous pseudoscience. One author in particular noted the lack of supporting evidence from reliable indicators of mental health (such as suicide rates, or prevalence of Seasonal Affective Disorder symptoms, for example), not to mention the possibility of identifying actual criteria to measure what the “saddest day of the year” could be.

So Blue Monday, it seems, is probably just a myth. What a relief, right?

Well, actually … not so much. Once I managed to escape the Google vortex, something interesting happened. My mind began to calm, and I took some time to notice where I was, how I was feeling, and reflect a bit on that. I noticed the reality that it is cold and dark outside, I am more tired than usual, I do feel a bit of sadness with Christmas in the rear-view mirror, and in the deeper recesses of my mind, I do feel pressure—some real, some imagined—to tackle the goals and responsibilities of the New Year.

I won’t pack up and leave for Mexico (although admittedly, that does have quite the allure). I will, however, try to remember my colleague’s wise words. Whether experiencing a deep “winter of the soul,” or just plain old winter, I’ll aim for a bit more compassion and care—for me and those around me.

We could all use a little more of that.

Blue Monday and the Winter Blahs

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