外國人常說的“Blue Monday”究竟是什么意思？

又是周一啦！大家今天的心情指數如何？

在英文中有一個詞叫作“Blue Monday”。你知道它的含義嗎？它被公認為是每年最讓人感到“喪”的一天。那種假期結束后的落差感、堆積如山的工作，是不是讓你還沒踏進辦公室，就想原地躺平？

01

“Blue Monday”是什么意思？

Blue Monday is the holiday that no one wants to celebrate.

“藍色星期一”大概是最不受歡迎、也沒人想慶祝的節日。

Typically landing on the third Monday in January, Blue Monday marks the day when many people find themselves suffering from apost-holidayslump mixed with disappointment over unfulfilled resolutions,an influx ofbills from the holiday season, a bad case of the winter blues or some combination of all the above.

它通常出現在每年1月的第三個星期一。這一天，很多人會陷入節后綜合癥：假期結束后的空虛感、年初立下的目標沒能實現的失落、節日期間累積的賬單壓力，再加上冬季帶來的情緒低落——往往是這些負面情緒交織在一起的結果。

“This has no clinical basis whatsoever,” Christine Crawford, MD, MPH, associate medical director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness tells TODAY.com in a phone interview.

“這種說法完全沒有任何臨床依據。”美國國家精神疾病聯盟（NAMI）副醫療主任、醫學博士兼公共衛生碩士Christine Crawford在接受 TODAY.com 電話采訪時表示。

In fact, the idea of Blue Monday can be traced to Cliff Arnall, a United Kingdom psychologist coined the phrase in 2005 as part of a PR campaign for a travel company looking to identify the most glum day of the year. Using a variety of benchmarks, Arnall determined that the third Monday in January fit the bill.

事實上，“藍色星期一”這一概念可以追溯到英國心理學家Cliff Arnall。他在2005 年為一家旅游公司策劃公關活動時，首次提出了這個說法，目的是找出一年中“最令人情緒低落的一天”。Arnall 綜合了多項指標后，認定1 月的第三個星期一最符合這一標準。

02

如何應對“Blue Monday”？

“Try to look at ways in which you can break up your day so that it feels manageable, so that you have things that are built into the day that are motivating,” Crawford says.

Crawford表示：“試著尋找一些方法來拆解你全天的任務，讓工作量變得易于掌控。在日程中加入一些能帶給你動力的小環節。”

“If you have a job where you have to focus for a long period of time, schedule in breaks during your day where you can reward yourself, whether it’s to watch one episode of a show or spend some time on social media, and then you get back to work,” she suggests.

她建議道：“如果你的工作需要長時間高度集中，記得在一天中穿插安排一些休息時間作為給自己的獎勵。比如看一集劇或刷一會兒社交媒體，然后再重新投入工作。”

Crawford also recommends intentionally staying connected to people after the holiday season and not isolating, even if that feels like the easiest option.

此外，Crawford還建議在假期結束后，要有意識地保持與他人的社交聯系，不要自我封閉——即便躲在自己的小世界里看起來似乎是最省力的選擇。

“You really have to beproactivewhen it comes to setting up opportunities to connect with friends and family. Make sure that you are scheduling time to call your loved ones or scheduling time to have that brunch with your girlfriend.”

“在維系與親友的關系上，你需要更加主動一些。一定要抽出時間給家人打個電話，或者和閨蜜約一頓早午餐。”

Unsurprisingly, she also recommends moving your body. “Any opportunity that you have to engage your muscles to be active, you are actually treating your Blue Monday, your low mood, because you are causing your body to release its ownantidepressants.”

此外，她也強調，多活動活動身體非常重要。她表示：“只要有機會讓肌肉活動起來，其實就是在對抗‘藍色星期一’和情緒低落，因為運動會促使身體釋放自身的‘天然抗抑郁物質’。”

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Crawford says tocut yourself some slack. “Have some grace for yourself,” she says. “Set up realistic expectations about your daily routine and your daily schedule and have that build and expand over time. But make sure to be realistic about it.”

最后，或許也是最重要的一點，Crawford建議要放過自己。她說：“對自己寬容一些。為日常生活和工作計劃設定一個切合實際的預期，然后循序漸進地去完善。但核心前提是：一定要腳踏實地。”

生活不必時刻緊繃。 周一只是新開始的序曲，而不是壓垮你的大山。今天，你打算給自己安排一個小獎勵來對抗“Blue Monday”嗎？在評論區分享你的快樂小秘訣吧！

英語表達積累

post-holiday：假期后的；節后（的）

例句：Many people feel tired and unmotivated during the post-holiday period.

很多人在假期結束后都會感到疲憊、提不起勁。

an influx of：大量涌入；蜂擁而至

例句：After the holidays, many families face an influx of bills.

假期過后，很多家庭都會迎來一大堆賬單。

proactive：主動的；積極預防的

例句：You need to be proactive about staying in touch with friends and family.

你需要主動去維系和朋友、家人的聯系。

antidepressant：抗抑郁藥；（口語中也可指）抗抑郁的物質

例句：Exercise helps the body release natural antidepressants.

運動能幫助身體釋放天然的抗抑郁物質。

cut yourself some slack：對自己寬容一點；別對自己太苛刻，原本是航海和攀巖里的說法，意思是把繩子放松一點，別拉得太緊

例句：It’s been a tough year — cut yourself some slack.

這一年已經很不容易了，別再對自己那么苛刻了。

Ref : https://www.today.com/life/holidays/what-is-blue-monday-rcna187319

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