Blue Monday - This year, the purported day of gloom is Monday, January 20th

The third Monday of January has been awarded this gloomy title due to a combination of post-Christmas blues, cold dark nights and the arrival of unpaid credit card bills.

Apparently, a university professor managed to precisely calculate the most depressing day of the year, supposedly the date was calculated by using many factors, including: weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action.

However, all may not be as it seems, as it turns out this was in fact a PR stunt by Sky Travel!

Mental health charity Mind is derisive of the notion of Blue Monday, claiming the concept has no foundation in scientific research.

A statement on their website says: "Here at Mind, we think it’s dangerously misleading. Those of us who live with depression know that those feelings aren’t dictated by the date. Implying that they are perpetuates the myth that depression is just 'feeling a bit down', something that doesn’t need to be taken seriously.”

The fact is that many of us find January a particularly difficult month, my own two major depressive episodes in my life have been in January and when I reflect on the formula above I recognise some of the contributing factors.

So what can we do? 

At the Gay Happiness Project we use Mindfulness to help us be more present, and being present with our emotions and feelings, whether positive or negative helps us to understand them and gain perspective on them;

“I am not my thoughts…”

The Gay Happiness Project Thriving Toolkit contains many simple and straight forward techniques for managing your mood, some suggestions to beat the January blues;

Gratitude - keeping a gratitude journal, 3 good things last thing at night or the 10 finger gratitude boost.

Savouring - involves noticing and appreciating the positive aspects of life. Savouring is more than pleasure – it also involves mindfulness and “conscious attention to the experience of pleasure”.

Random Acts of Kindness - Commit five acts of kindness every day. You can do this by assessing what those around you need the most and find positive ways to make a difference to them. 

Visualise your future - Imagine yourself five years from now after everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You have accomplished all the goals you set yourself. Write down where you will be and how it will feel when all of your goals have been achieved. Use all five senses (vision, hearing, touch, taster and smell) when writing these goals.

Develop distractions to break rumination - The goal here is to shift your focus away from anxieties and troubles. Make two lists, one of healthy distractions and the other list of unhealthy distractions. Healthy distractions might include going for a bike ride, walking your dog, playing a game with a friend, reading a novel, etc. Unhealthy distractions to avoid might include excessively eating, drinking alcohol, or playing video games for hours. Aim for any activity from the list of healthy distractions.

The next Gay Happiness Project course starts on Wednesday 11th March 2020 at 6.30pm near Baker Street. In a safe and friendly group setting you can learn mindfulness, life-skills and self-care techniques on the happiest gay course in London.