Blue Monday Speakers at GREAT BRITISH SPEAKERS

Blue Monday Mental Health Speakers

What is ‘Blue Monday’?

The term ‘Blue Monday’ is a compilation term for those post-Christmas blues; back to a normal work routine,  in combination with cold, dark days and the costs of unpaid Christmas debts and winter credit card bills, which all make this time of year seem a little more gloomy than normal.

According to Croud, the term was coined by a psychologist, Cliff Arnall, back in 2004, when  Sky Travel, asked him for a “scientific formula” for the January blues. From his research, Arnell calculated that the most depressing day of the year could be discovered using the following formula;

Where weather=W, debt=d, time since Christmas=T, time since failing our new year’s resolutions=Q, low motivational levels=M and the feeling of a need to take action=Na. ‘D’ is not defined in the release, nor are units.

Using his calculation, he determined that the most depressing day of the year was, in fact, the 3rd Monday of January.

 – so this year, it will fall on the 16th of January 2023.

Despite the term initially being coined to encourage people to book holidays – the term seems to have stuck, as is now widely used in to describe those seasonal blues and even more severe mental health and mood disorders, such as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

However, in some circumstances, when these moods don’t lift, they can spiral into more long-term mental health conditions.

So while the date may have been coined for a quick holiday PR stunt, the awareness it’s raised over the years has been fundamental in raising the wider concerns of mental health issues globally.

Find an Inspirational ‘Blue Monday’ Mental Health Speakers

Featured Speaker –  Poorna Bell | Blue Monday Mental Health Speakers

Poorna Bell is an award-winning journalist, published author, digital editorial expert and charming public speaker. She works extensively across a range of areas, including women in business, the BAME community and diversity, mental health and physical health.  She has been a guest speaker at a number of mental health and wellness events, including for the NHS and at the Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit.

Poorna has witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of depression –

In 2015, Poorna’s husband Rob, sadly took his own life after a battle with depression.

Poorna has since brought her life experiences to the world of publishing, writing three non-fiction books and one novel.  Her first, Chase the Rainbow (2017), she described as a memoir-meets-journalism piece based on her life with Rob and his experience with mental illness.  In Search of Silence came in 2019; it explores the prevalent negative emotions in our society, such as sadness and loneliness, and aims to find out what happiness truly means to us.  And Stronger came out in 2021 and is described as part memoir and part manifesto. It was inspired by Poorna’s journey to get physically strong after she lost her husband, documenting her journey to becoming a competitive powerlifter.

Mental Health Speakers | Similar Speakers & Blogs

• Suicide Prevention Speaker Steve Carr
• Supporting Women’s Health in the Workplace
• How to Prevent Work/Life Burnout with Andrew Pain
• New Ways to Cope with Mental Health in the Workplace
• Speaking Up on Men’s Mental Health with Roman Kemp

Top 10 World Mental Health Day Speakers | Great British Speakers

“A Chat With…”  Episodes with our Mental Health Speakers | Podcast.

• Clive Branson | Overcoming Adversity, Disability 
• Ben Smith | LGBTQ+ Anti-Bullying & Endurance
• Andrew Pain | Domestic Violence Isn’t Gendered
• Alex Staniforth | Mind Over Mountains Men’s Mental Health
• Dave Walsh | World’s Strongest Disabled Man
• Steve Carr | ‘Losing Myself to Find Everything’ – Suicide Awareness

Links to Resources | Mental Health Support

• Contact ‘Mind’ – Mental Health Charity
• Contact Samaritans – Mental Health Charity
• World Health Organization 
• World Mental Health Day

Hire Mental Health Speakers for Blue Monday

If you’d like to book any motivational Mental Health speakers to add some optimism and inspiration this Blue Monday, then do get in touch with directors Jane Farnham and Steve Denison here at Great British Speakers.

Call +44 1753 439289 or email bookings@greatbritishtalent.com