Cheer up! Blue Monday is coming

SMALL PRINT:SIX years ago, a PR company paid Welsh psychologist Cliff Arnall to come up with an equation to calculate the most depressing day of the year – and he came to the conclusion that today's the day.

The actual mathematics involved may have been shaky – he was castigated by Ben Goldacre, who writes the Bad Science column in the Guardian, and other commentators at the time – but the “Blue Monday” idea took off. Arnall reckoned that taking into account factors such as bad weather, post-Christmas credit card debt, failure of new year’s resolutions and the gaping chasm between now and when we last got paid, the third Monday of January was the saddest day in the calendar.

But there are ways to cope with the most depressing day of the year. Allow us to help with some ideas to beat the blues

Watch the weather.

Specifically watch the weather tonight and hope you see forecaster Jean Byrne and the uplifting “outfit” she might be “sporting” after the 9 o’clock news. People mistakenly thought she’d peaked with her 2009 Christmas Day tinfoil dress, but recently she’s outdone herself, going all Liz Hurley with a black gúna slashed in a number of strategic places.

Laugh it off.

The giggle merchants behind the “laughter yoga” movement say it’s a scientific fact that the body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter. The physiological and psychological benefits are apparently the same. Try some fake laughter or ask friends for the best jokes they ever heard. Here’s one to start you off: “I bought Bonnie Tyler’s car off her the other day; it runs fine but every now and then it falls apart.” Gets us every time.

Perform Random Acts of Kindness

. Bring cream cakes or more healthy offerings into work for colleagues; be nice to someone who normally irritates you; give up your place in the queue for a person who seems in a hurry; or leave a generous tip. Sit back and feel those endorphins rise.

Pamper yourself.

Make time for a long, hot candlelit bath. Go for a massage. Pencil in an undisturbed hour with one of the books piled up beside the bed. It doesn’t really matter what you do, but investing in yourself will take the sting out of a bleak day.

Catch up with a friend for lunch.

Preferably one who always makes you feel good and who you haven’t seen for way too long. The Pepperpot Cafe in Powerscourt Townhouse, Dublin is offering a Blue Monday salad special and homemade brown bread for €8, with a free cheer-inducing cookie thrown in.

Be grateful for what you’ve got.

American psychology professor Dr Robert Emmons says gratitude is the “forgotten factor” in happiness research. His research showed that those who kept a journal of things for which they were grateful were happier, healthier and got more sleep. There’s a gratitude app available for your phone on which you can record your reasons to be thankful; the Irish Hospice Foundation’s Thank You Book does the same job while raising money for a great cause.

Make a Cake.

It’s probably been scientifically proven (and if it hasn’t someone needs to get on to that, stat) that it’s impossible to be sad when you have just taken a freshly baked sponge or batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven.

Embrace the day.

Wallow in the misery. Put New Order’s Blue Monday on a loop (“Tell me, how do I feel/Tell me now, how do I feel”) or make a mix-tape of the most depressing songs known to humanity. We are talking The Smiths, Radiohead, Nick Cave, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Justin Bieber. Everything will seem much rosier after an hour listening to that lot.

Ignore the day.

Last year, Blue Monday instigator Cliff Arnall admitted that highlighting the day when we are likely to be most depressed was not helpful because it became “a self-fulfilling prophecy”. He said achieving happiness and being less materialistic should be a year-round aim. So if Blue Monday doesn’t go well, there’s always Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday . . .