As I was browsing the Internet today, I thought what better time to talk about depression than the day after Blue Monday, which was yesterday January 18th.  What exactly is Blue Monday?  It is the 3rd Monday in January.  What is so significant about this particular day?  Nothing, really, other than that it is the day a psychologist, named Mr Arnall, claimed is the most miserable date of the year (hence the word Blue meaning the gloomy definition, not the color!).  He calculated that the 3rd Monday in January is the most depressing day based on a so-called formula taking into consideration a bunch of factors such as weather, time since New Year’s, money and motivational levels. Convinced? Well, you shouldn’t be since this is obviously all nonsense, and a ploy to use this date for marketing purposes.  What do I mean? Well, it turns out that this psychologist was paid to come up with a date that identifies the unhappiest day of the year. Why do you think he was paid to come up with a day?  It is because travel companies want to publicize this day so their sales spike at the beginning of the year by suggesting to people that a vacation can cure their blues. Guess what? It worked because since then, Blue Monday is the day when most people in the U.K. choose to call in sick or take brief holidays, convinced that, this is the only way to get over their dreary feelings. Although Blue Monday is a myth and a clever marketing stunt, depression is real and serious.

What is Depression?

How do you know if you are just going through the normal ups and downs of life or experiencing depression?  Everybody gets sad from time to time, but when it begins to affect your social, educational and family life, then it may be time to take action.  If you feel like you always have been a relatively cheerful person but now find yourself, not ‘being yourself’ then maybe you are entering the realm of depression.  Depression is more than sadness; if you enter depression, it is hard to get out of it and can truly disrupt your life; it is characterized by feelings of hopelessness and helplessness – where you feel like nothing will ever get better and there’s nothing you can do about your situation – and/or loss of interest in daily activities such as socializing, hobbies and pleasurable activities for at least a 2 week period, along with five (or more) of the below symptoms:

•           Significant weight loss or weight gain because you have lost your appetite or can’t stop eating

•           Difficulty sleeping or too much sleeping nearly every day

•           Agitated, restless or on edge where everything and everyone gets on your nerves

•           Fatigued, sluggish and lacking energy nearly every day

•           Strong feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt about things that you cannot control

•           Trouble focusing, making decisions or remembering things

•           Recurrent thoughts of death and suicide

Do not wait to seek help; if you feel these feelings are not going away, getting worse and are affecting your ability to work, study, eat and sleep, then chances are you are dealing with depression.