Some say it could be essentially the most miserable day of the year, Blue Monday falls this year on January 15.

While there’s no science backing up that it’s essentially the most miserable day of the year, most specialists consider the winter months can current challenges for the psychological well being of many individuals, due to a mess of causes together with payments from the vacations and a scarcity of daylight.

Dr. Michael Mak, a psychiatrist and sleep specialist with CAMH, stated the time period Blue Monday was really first coined by a journey firm.

“Blue Monday is actually a marketing ploy uh that was invented by a British travel company to prompt more travel,” stated Dr. Mak.

However, it’s not far off how individuals are feeling. “What they did get proper is the truth that throughout this time of year, the winter months, notably January, when it’s very gloomy and darkish out, The lack of pure daylight publicity causes us to really feel perhaps somewhat bit extra depressed, somewhat bit much less joyful than, in contrast to standard.

Dr. Mak stated this can have an effect on up to 30 per cent of Canadians, particularly with the excessive variety of cloudy days to date this winter. He shares how to assist fight these blues.

“One great tip for everybody that wants to conquer Blue Monday and stay happy during these gloomy times, expose yourself to natural bright light,” stated Dr. Mak.

This means turning on all of the lights in your house, and if that’s not sufficient, spend money on a seasonal affective dysfunction gentle that has a minimal brightness of 10,000 lux.

“If you expose yourself to that kind of light, 30 minutes a day in the morning, you’re going to feel much better,” stated Dr. Mak.

When requested about taking Vitamin D dietary supplements, Dr. Mack stated it may assist you probably have a deficit, however “we don’t have evidence that taking the vitamin D will make you feel better during the winter months. The light exposure is the key here.”

As a sleep specialist, Dr. Mak stated a scarcity of sleep may also exasperate the results of seasonal affective dysfunction.

“There’s a bidirectional relationship between sleep and mood. If you have bad mood, you might have bad sleep, but vice versa, bad
sleep equals bad mood.”

That shiny gentle publicity additionally helps with this.

“Having that bright light exposure, particularly in the winter months in the morning, that stabilizes your internal body clock allows you to sleep better and maybe have a better mood overall.”

Dr. Mak stated he practices what he preaches when it comes to making himself really feel higher within the winter months.

“When I wake up in the morning. I have all my lights on. I have a sad lamp at home just to keep my mood happy through these gloomy winter months,” stated Dr. Mak. “What I like to do is to keep a regular schedule waking up every day at the same time and going to bed when I’m feeling sleepy and those tips will help keep us happy through these gloomy winter months.”

He provides it helps to acknowledge this is a troublesome time of year for everybody so reaching out to family and friends is necessary.

“Reaching out to friends and family, that’s a great way to ensure that your mood is fine, but also keeping a barometer on each other. This is a great time to ask your friends and family if they’re doing well and if they’re suffering from some seasonal depression, offering them support.”

If you need assistance, CAMH has put collectively a Blue Monday information that gives extra assets and ideas.