If the cold winter weather is getting you down, you're not alone, it's 'Blue Monday,' the most depressing day of the year.
And if you're feeling blue, you can blame the grey - grey skies, that is.
But it seems whether people are feeling especially under the weather is a matter of opinion.
The term 'Blue Monday' was coined in 2006 by a Welsh psychology professor. He figured the third Monday in January would be the most depressing day of the year for a variety of reasons including: bills coming due from Christmas, the dreary weather and perhaps lapses from New Year's resolutions.
Kim Leacy, a dietitian with the Middlesex-London Health Unit, says sticking with a balanced diet can help you feel better.
"Food is one of the things that contributes to our overall healthiness - your brain functioning. Your brain produces chemicals - neurotransmitters that help you feel happier. So if you're not feeding your body appropriately, you're not getting the nutrients you need for your proper body functioning."
But we can't do anything about the weather, and for up to 10 per cent of Canadians 'Blue Monday' coincides with Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Marnie Wedlake of the Canadian Mental Health Association says "We need to have a certain amount of daylight in order to have wellbeing. So this time of year when our daylight might be eight or so hours it's going to have an effect on all kinds of things. That's just our body's response to the environment around us."
Still Health Canada has a few tips that might help:
- try to maintain or increase your level of physical activity
- exercise outdoors during daylight
- if indoors, try to exercise by a window
- do what you love
