Not even the job-robbing robots can bring on a Blue 2024

THAT dreaded Monday feeling might hit harder next week – that is, if you are to believe the hype that it’s officially the most depressing day of the year.

Yep, it’s the third Monday in January, commonly referred to as Blue Monday, thanks to a clever marketing strategy by a British travel company in a bid to make people book more holidays.

The concept of it was dreamed up by psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall back in 2004. He considered variables such as weather, debt, finances and motivation and came to the conclusion that it’s the gloomiest day of the year.

Some may argue that Blue Monday is nothing but pseudo-scientific nonsense. But this is one publicity stunt that shows no sign of going away, so there’s definitely something in it.

The formula for this month’s misery seems to include three ingredients, which Turn2Me, a national mental health charity, has documented in its recent tips to ease the January blues.

These include post-holiday letdown – the time after the excitement and busyness of the holiday season, when many people experience a sense of sadness once the festivities are over and we return to the daily grind.

Then there’s seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a very real type of depression that occurs at a specific time of year ‘typically during the fall and winter months’.

Add in financial stress – you’ve spent all your cash in December and now you’re counting down the hours to payday (which seems light years away).

So it’s no wonder January is such a gruel. And with all the horror that’s happening in the world right now, it’s been tempting most mornings to pull the duvet over my head and stay there until everything is better.

That’s why it was something of a surprise to read 2024’s predictions this week from global think-tank Ipsos, which seem to confirm that despite everything signalling the contrary, optimism is on the rise for this year. Somehow, it seems that being on the cusp of a third world war and residing on a burning earth hasn’t shaken our hopeful expectations.

According to the latest Ipsos predictions survey, a whopping 70% of us are of the opinion that this year will be better.

The big reason behind our positivity seems to point to the fact that we are not as impacted by Covid these days. The world was significantly more pessimistic back in 2021, when life bullishness dropped to a decade low of 65%.

What’s interesting about this year’s result is that on the face of it, nothing really looks great at all for humankind.

We are in the midst of escalating global turbulence and aggression, and then we have the continual march of global warming, which is more evident than ever.

As the report documents, 2023 was also a year of increased natural disasters, causing widespread distress in various parts of the world.

LAST year was the hottest on record, leading to 81% expecting average global temperatures to go even higher in 2024. That’s not exactly a comforting thought. But fear not – we can always rely on AI to make things better, right? Yes, Ispos tells us that more people (64%) think AI will lead to more jobs (good) being lost than being created (bad) in 2024. What’s more, 50% of people think that robots will look like, think like and speak like humans this year. Sure isn’t that something to which to look forward Sticking with work, and it seems that we can also welcome a widespread return to the office.

More than half of the population (59%) expect to spend more time in the office than at home this year, which may very well signal the beginning to the end of hybrid working (which is just what we wanted to read in the run-up to Blue Monday, I think you’ll agree).

And if you’re relying on the economy to bring much buoyancy, well, maybe don’t.

For although public sentiment is ‘showing positive signs’ when it comes to the cost of living and employment, the majority of those surveyed (70%) expect both inflation and interest rates in their country to be higher in 2024 than last year.

All things considered then, I would concur that the apparent rise in optimism seems to be either a miscalculation or perhaps just a general relief that we aren’t in lockdown any more.

That said, Ireland is one of the world’s luckiest countries for multiple reasons, and as it turns out, we do indeed count our blessings.

We were ranked as the 14th happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report for 2023, which isn’t bad, when you consider that our British neighbours just about made the top 20, coming in 19th.

There are, of course, key variables that make us happier humans, such as the wealth of a country, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and freedom from corruption. But we can also think we are better off than we actually are, too.

Yet another index revealing the healthiest countries in Europe – of which Ireland ranked fourth – looked at a range of factors such as life expectancy, self-perceived health levels, obesity levels and depressive symptoms. Ireland took fourth place overall in life insurance broker Reassured’s study. We also ranked fifth lowest for regular body pain and fifth highest for life expectancy.

On top of this, Ireland came in fourth for self-perceived health. This is despite coming 30th for obesity, which we know is an epidemic in this country, affecting a quarter of adults and one in four schoolkids.

So the figures don’t add up. But do they actually matter? At the end of the day, it’s about how we feel, and choosing optimism is undoubtedly the way forward. After all, hope seems to be the one thing on which we can rely.