Depressed? It may not help you to know this, but you are not on your own. According to an academic, the most depressing day of the year falls on a Monday in January - so-called 'Blue Monday'. The actual Monday varies between individuals depending on a number of factors such as the number of days since christmas, level of debt and how long since your new years resolution was broken.
The hypothesis was put forward by psychologist Cliff Arnall, who was at the time a tutor at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, a Further Education centre attached to Cardiff University. He even proposed an algebraic formula for it.
Where T equals time since Christmas, D equals debt, W is weather, d is money due in January pay, Q the time since the New Years Resolution failed, M general motivational levels and NA is the need to take action, the formula is: 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA . So you see, it is a well understood phenomenon.
So that's alright then. Those of us who have resisted the suicidal thoughts and are still here can start to think positively about the future.
So let's look on the brighter side.
- The Christmas and New Year farce is over for another year.
- We can't carry on like this; things can only get better.
- The recession will soon be over.
- There's an election soon and the next bunch of thieves and charlatans can hardly be worse than this lot - can they?
- Surprisingly, suicide rates peak in the spring.
There. I bet you feel better already. 
