Make Blue Monday A Happy Monday....
Today is 'Blue Monday' - it's a term coined to describe the purportedly "most depressing day of the year." It is typically associated with the third Monday of January. The concept was first introduced in 2005 by a psychologist named Dr. Cliff Arnall. He claimed to have developed a formula taking into account various factors like weather conditions, debt levels, time since Christmas, and motivational levels too.
However, it's important to note that the scientific validity of Blue Monday has been widely criticised and many experts consider it to be a pseudoscience concept lacking empirical support. Despite this, the term has persisted in popular culture, and some use it as a way to draw attention to mental health and well-being during the challenging post-Christmas period.
How are you feeling today?
Mondays can be a challenge for everyone, whether you're in work, at school, college or university. You may have had a good weekend and are not looking forward to returning to work or study or alternatively, you have had a difficult weekend that has given you no rest.
Have your New Year resolutions gone by the wayside?
The initial optimism for the New Year can ebb away as the weeks go on but you have felt like this before and found a way to get through.
It's easy to forget the Januarys that you have struggled through but managed. What have you done in the past to help you?
You are stronger than you believe you are.
Improving your mental health can be helped we know by better nutrition, more exercise and by reaching out to family and friends who may be feeling the same but don't talk about it. However, making changes isn't always easy and we can fall back into familiar habits often because we don't have faith that we have the will or ability to keep to those changes. It has been stated that keeping a new habit up for 21 days results in that habit becoming more ingrained but it isn't always easy to maintain new routines.
Some people will say that maybe you should look at winter differently but that is easier said than done.. Spring however, is on the way and the nights are drawing out. Snowdrops have already been spotted and before we know it the early evenings will be light again.
You can get through this period. You have maybe forgotten how you have done it in the past...
For over 10 years, I have had the privilege of supporting children, teenagers, adults, couples and families, helping them to improve their mental well-being.
I've been able to listen to their innermost fears, their worries and insecurities and to help them find a way forward.
If you feel that counselling could help you too, please contact me, John Warrington, for a no-obligation, confidential chat about how having the time and space to talk and be listened to, can help you too.
If 6 sessions are booked, then I will provide 1 session free of charge in January.
I look forward to hearing from you and to helping make your Blue Mondays, Happier ones....
Thanks for reading,
John,
Counselling Minds.