Following the long, sunshine-filled days of summer, the longer, darker days of fall and winter can feel like a rude awakening. Add in holiday season stressors, and for some, you have the perfect storm of emotions. While some savor this time of year, others find themselves struggling with either seasonal affective disorder (SAD), milder cases of the winter blues, or just regular, old depression.

Back in 2005, British Travel company, Sky Travel, dubbed the third day in January “Blue Monday,” or the gloomiest day of the year, as a marketing ploy, based on a calculation done by psychologist Dr. Cliff Arnall. Although even Arnall has admitted the term is meaningless, the myth of Blue Monday has persisted. 

With Blue Monday approaching, we took a look at Zocdoc data to assess whether patients sought more mental health care on Blue Monday than on other days of the year. We found that while people do seek out mental health care in January, the most mental health appointments are booked in October and November — especially on the Monday post-Thanksgiving.

Falling into winter

With the shift in seasons, comes an uptick in mental health appointments. Zocdoc data shows that patients especially flock to get help with their mental health during autumn, notably in October and November. Specifically, the Monday after Thanksgiving is a popular time to book a time with a doctor for depression or anxiety. In a recent survey, nearly 88% of adults called the holiday season the most stressful time of the year, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

In 2022, patients made the most appointments for depression and anxiety on November 28th (the Monday after Thanksgiving). And spanning 2020 to 2022, the average of mental health bookings on this day is 56 percent higher than the number of mental health bookings on Blue Monday.  

Should we say, “Buh bye, Blue Monday”? Maybe. 

Out of the running

According to our data, January is not the month when the most mental health appointments are booked. In fact, of the days people booked the most mental health appointments in 2022, January didn’t even make it into the top ten. On average, the number of depression bookings on the Monday after Thanksgiving is 51 percent higher than the number of depression bookings on Blue Monday.

As Blue Monday skeptics say, people around us are experiencing depression and anxiety all the time; it shifts and it fluctuates. There are too many variables out there to actually pick the saddest day of the year.

However, we do know that the period post-Thanksgiving really drives people to get the mental healthcare they need — and that’s a good thing.