January 18 is Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year, as some say. Despite the lack of scientific evidence for such a claim, blind luck could make today the worst day of the year.
Nobody likes Mondays, and if to that day you add the low sunlight that comes and goes when everyone is sitting locked up at work and melancholy about not keeping our New Year's promises, we have a recipe for disaster.
The same conclusion was reached by Cliff Arnall, a former employee of Cardiff University. Using a mathematical formula containing factors that could contribute to malaise, he concluded that the third Monday of January is the most depressive day of the year (Blue Monday). He took into account several factors, ranging from the weather (short day, low sun), psychological (awareness of failure to meet New Year's resolutions) to financial (time since Christmas and payment dates for loans related to Christmas shopping).
The concept of Blue Monday, presented by Arnall, has met with criticism. As it turned out later, Cliff Arnall created the concept of Blue Monday as part of a promotional campaign organized in collaboration with travel agencies, and his scientific competence is at least debatable. The concept of the most depressive day of the year was supposed to help sell more tours.