Good Day to Stay in Bed?

Below is an article from MSN today...

Today has been declared the most depressing day of the year. This year, make it your call.


The superstitious have long worried about courting bad luck on Friday the 13th and stayed “beware the Ides of March.” But for the past couple of years there has been another day to mark in black on the calendar: The most depressing day of the year.

In 2005, a psychologist named Cliff Arnall (who was, at the time, a part-time lecturer at the University of Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning in Wales), declared that he had devised a formula to calculate the worst day. That year, it was Monday, Jan. 24; last year, Monday, Jan. 23. So watch out, because today may well be 2007’s most miserable day.

Monday, January 23, 2006 - he hit that one on the head!

Arnall’s so-called formula looks like this: [W + (D-d)] x TQM x NA.

All of the letters and symbols apparently represent a sort of mathematical code to track the following:

W: How bad the weather is at this time of year.

D: Amount of debt accumulated over the holidays minus how much is paid off.

T: The time since the holidays.

Q: Amount of time passed since New Year’s resolutions have gone south.

M: Our general motivation levels.

NA: The need to take action.

Now that the fun of the holidays is over, we need to make a plan that gives us something to look forward to. Arnall’s dreaded-day formula was originally commissioned as a public relations stunt for Sky Travel. The company planned to use it as a tool for encouraging depressed people to start booking winter getaways. In the two years since he created it, Arnall and his equation received plenty of January press—and, eventually, lots of backlash.

Several bloggers in Britain, for instance, took issue with Arnall’s pseudoscience, posting entries with titles such as “Will someone please muffle Cliff Arnall.” And an article in the London Times last January, called “Research + PR = a very depressing equation,” exposed Arnall’s prescription as a work for hire rather than a true academic exercise.

“It’s based on no science, no research and it’s incredibly gimmicky,” says Ellen McGrath, Ph.D., president and founder of Bridge Coaching Institute in New York City. “But as a marketing strategy, it’s brilliant.”

Here’s an interesting twist: McGrath concedes that if you dissect the gimmick, Arnall’s equation does take into account some very real issues. “He took several currents of common experience and funneled them into one specific moment,” she says.

The weather—and in particular, the lack of daylight—is an issue in January and February, especially in the northern latitudes. And that’s the primary cause of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Wow, what a fitting acronym!!!

Another universal dilemma around this time of year is debt.. “Buyer’s remorse is a core part of the post-holiday blues,” acknowledges McGrath. “Love is defined as buying a great gift, but when the bills come due in January it can lead to depression.”

Late January is also time to confront reality, say psychologists. Difficult decisions about jobs, family and relationships are often put off until after the holidays. So while we may wake up feeling very positive on Jan. 1, life may look a lot less shiny a few weeks later.

While Arnall’s equation has received its fair share of criticism, most experts agree that if this “day of doom” prediction helps raise awareness about the serious issues of depression and seasonal affective disorder, then, overall that’s a good thing and not harmful. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that almost 18.8 million American adults suffer from depression and nearly six percent of the population is affected by SAD.

Still, plenty of people take offense at such a specific “most depressing day” pronouncement. “It essentially vacates any concept of free will or self-determinism, putting the focus on external events rather than what’s within us,” says Susan C. Vaughn, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University.

Vaughn elaborates: Even if you have maxed out your credit cards, failed at your New Year’s resolutions, and the weather is lousy, not everyone will succumb to depression—especially not all of us on the same day. In fact, some psychologists and life coaches argue that January can be a time of focus and motivation. The frenzy of the holidays is past, and there is time to concentrate on accomplishing new goals.

“It depends on how you interpret it,” says McGrath. “One choice makes you lose power and one makes you gain it."

So Cheer Up, there are better days ahead!