Feeling Low? Don't Blame Blue Monday

Despite hype around the 'most depressing day in the year' there is no reason to believe people are more miserable in January

 

I'm not going to tell the same story once a year even if it crops up in parliament, every newspaper, and all over Radio 4: there are more interesting things to say than "Blue Monday is bullshit", but before we get there, let me briefly clarify how Blue Monday is definitely bullshit.

The "most depressing day of the year" began life as a "wacky academic" equation story. This is the kind of thing PR companies offer as "advertising equivalent exposure" for companies who want their brand in the papers.

The equation stunt was not the work of an academic, it was paid for by Sky Travel, and Blue Monday comes just after your first pay cheque arrives, the perfect time to book a holiday.

It has been co-opted by the Mental Health Foundation, and the Samaritans, presumably with good intentions. But there is no reason to believe the population really is more miserable in January.

I reviewed the evidence from more than 30 studies over 130 years on the subject last year. Some find more suicide in spring and early summer, some in spring and autumn, some in summer only, some find no pattern at all.

Many have sampled representative individuals from a population and followed their mood over a year, finding: more misery in summer, more in spring, more in winter, or no peak at all.

Antidepressant prescriptions peak in spring, or in February, May and October. GP consultations for depression peak in May-June, and November-January). Admissions for depression peak in autumn, or spring and summer, while eight studies found no variation.

So Blue Monday does not put a catchy name on a simple human truth. It only really shows us how easy it is to take an idea that people think they already know, and then sell it back to them. Even if it's false.

While it might be tempting to try to piggyback on nonsense, communicating on mental health issues – like anything interesting — requires that you challenge stigma and assumptions, not reinforce them.

But it's also worth thinking about the wider consequences when we indulge, deploy, and therefore normalise, nonsense. This year Blue Monday has been promoted by Mentaline, a new business venture selling online webcam counselling for £50 a session. Its last PR news story was three weeks ago: "Teens fake mental health issues to look cool at school" was the headline in the Mirror.

"MENTAL illness is the latest fashion accessory for teenagers, a survey revealed today," they explain. "Youngsters are faking serious conditions … 34% admitted lying about having a mental illness in the past." They even have a list of the "top five phantom problems" that teenagers pretend to have: "Eating disorders, 22%; self-harming, 17%; addiction, 13%; depression, 12%; bipolar disorder, 9%."

This does not feel like a constructive contribution to stigma, or the perception of serious mental illnesses. These seem like very serious claims about a sensitive issue, and the figures are spectacularly unlikely. I asked 10 Yetis PR (the public relations firm which says it did the survey) who was surveyed, what proportion of teens responded, what the basic demographics were, and so on. The company has yet to answer.

Bullshit is a slippery slope. All I suggest is that you should think a bit before you step on to the crest.

Thanks to Ben Goldacre / Guardian UK