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Why Blue Monday is a lie

Worldwide, the third Monday in January is known as “the saddest day of the year” or “Blue Monday”

Depression is common after the holidays - Photo: File Photo/EL UNIVERSAL
21/01/2019 |15:36Notimex |
Redacción El Universal
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Worldwide, the third Monday in January is known as “the saddest day of the year ” or “ Blue Monday ”; nevertheless, this doesn't exist, according to experts from Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM) .

They claim this is a pseudo-scientific event or a marketing concept, which is the foundation of a campaign to increase the sale of trips. In 2005, the company Sky Travel looked for a way to increase its selling points.

Therefore, “ Blue Monday ” was calculated through an equation made by the English researcher Cliff Arnall , who considers parameters such as weather and the debts originated by the holidays to find “the saddest day of the year .”

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Nevertheless, said equation can't be generalized, as the conditions are different for every country, said Hugo Sánchez , an academic from the Psychology Faculty .

Once the December holidays and parties are over, this period becomes a time for self-criticism , reflection, and melancholy but it doesn't become pathological , Sánchez explained.

The academic explained that people all over the world feel sadness and anxiety all the time but it doesn't always become an illness ; therefore, people shouldn't wait for a specific day to be depressed .

He explained that some sectors of the population can be susceptible to be influenced.

He urged vulnerable sectors, such as teenagers , not to suicide or risk their lives today and to ask for help if they feel depressed or anxious .

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