Blue Monday: How to beat the most depressing day of the year

Oscar, a two-year-old St Bernard, has a hang-dog look Credit: Barry Batchelor / PA Archive/PA Images

Today, January 18, the third Monday of January, is said to be the most depressing day of the year.

Dubbed 'Blue Monday', it was worked out after a psychologist in 2005 put together an equation based on factors such as weather, debt, monthly salary and time passed since Christmas.

Despite the date though, if you are feeling 'blue', here are some tips that are said to enhance the way you're feeling from website beatbluemonday.org.uk.

  • Try something new - be creative, or learn something new to get your brain active and start thinking of new things instead of dwelling on the old.

  • Get physical - by changing your physical state, from a simple shoulder-shake at your desk to a full work-out at the gym, you can change the way you feel.

  • Contact a friend or relative - get in touch with someone you have not heard from in a while. Thinking of someone else takes your mind off you.

  • Take a break - go somewhere different, whether it’s a coffee bar you have never been into, or a faraway luxury holiday - by changing your physical location, you change your perspective on the world.

  • Be nice to a stranger - do a random act of kindness as doing good for others is the best form of self-satisfaction.

  • Pamper yourself - whether it's a small indulgence or a luxury you have been promising yourself.

  • Share you thoughts - a problem shared is a problem halved.

Get in touch and let us know what do you do to cheer yourself up.