Is Blue Monday the darkest day of the year?

Do you have a case of the Mondays?

You may not be alone: a British psychologist has dubbed the third Monday in January “Blue Monday,” the most depressing day of the year.

Cliff Arnall, formerly of Cardiff University, came up with the term for this time of year by taking into account factors like the weather, personal debt and the post-Christmas blues – but he’s been challenged by another Cardiff doctor.

Dr. Dean Burnett called Arnall’s equation “pseudoscience,” saying it harmed those who truly suffer from depression.

“True clinical depression (as opposed to a post-Christmas slump) is a far more complex condition that is affected by many factors, chronic and temporary, internal and external,” Burnett wrote in a column for The Guardian newspaper last year.

“What is extremely unlikely (i.e. impossible) is that there is a reliable set of external factors that cause depression in an entire population at the same time every year.”

Are you suffering from the winter blues – or something more serious?

Check out the signs and symptoms of depression at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

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