Battle on and beat those Monday blues: Tips for a healthy mind

If so, it may be because today is Blue Monday, apparently the day we all feel at our lowest ebbs.

According to the so-called experts, Blue Monday is the day when our new year optimism disappears and we start to feel the come-down from the festive period.

Christmas is long gone, the presents have all been locked away in the cupboard and the empty champers bottles and beer cans are still clogging up the bottom of the wheelie bin.

It's taken a couple of weeks, but the grim reality of the year ahead has settled in with full force.

The wretched weather doesn't help. Will it ever stop raining? Oh, and those huge January credit card bills have started to arrive. Don't they realise it's weeks until payday?

And how about those New Year resolutions? Spent much time at the gym lately? No, neither have I. The newly-purchased membership card sits on the sideboard next to the cigarettes that I didn't manage to give up.

Desperate, depressing Blue Monday – another ludicrous concept popularised by some genius in an advertising department – has taken the nation by storm.

We have holiday company Sky Travel to thank. Ten years ago the firm mentioned it in a press release, presumably aimed at persuading people to part with their hard-earned cash for a trip to foreign climes.

We've been saddled with it ever since. Boffins claim to have calculated the date using a complex equation (yes, really). I've seen the equation, and you don't need to be Professor Stephen Hawking to work out it is a load of poppycock.

C times R times ZZ divided by Tt plus D multiplied by St, where the letters relate to various times spent sleeping, relaxing and feeling stressed out. Pythagorean theorem it is not.

Still, despite the fact Blue Monday is a commercially driven enterprise, that's not to say people won't be feeling miserable today. Positive thinking is the way to keep your spirits up – and there are plenty of ways to do it.

Here's our top 10 tips to help ward off the Blue Monday despondency...

1. Do some exercise

This will get the endorphins flowing through your system and give you a natural high. Exercise is good for your mental health as well as your physical health.

Dr Alan Cohen, a GP with a special interest in mental health, says that when people get depressed or anxious, they often feel they're not in control of their lives.

"Exercise gives them back control of their bodies and this is often the first step to feeling in control of other events," he says.

2. Create a 'happy' playlist

Blasting out some Joy Division or listening to the complete works of Darkthrone may well float your boat, but miserable music is likely to do nothing to improve your state of mind.

Your playlist could include:

Wham – Club Tropicana

Pharrell Williams – Happy

Captain Sensible – Happy Talk

Dr Peter Sleight, from the University of Oxford, noted that cheery music can 'alleviate stress and improve athletic performance'.

His research also found that music can boost milk production in cattle, but that's another story.

The message here is sing along to some of your favourite upbeat tracks to improve your mood instantly.

3. Wear bright clothes

Psychologists say red is a powerful, energy-filled colour, while orange is joyous, fun and sociable. Black, on the other hand, is associated with silence and the infinite.

The message here is to stick on a pair of brightly coloured dungarees like the ones Geoffrey in Rainbow used to wear. This will brighten up the gloom.

4. Eat healthily

Some of us don't feel like eating when we're depressed, which carries the risk of becoming underweight. Others find comfort in junk food and can pile on the weight.

Nutrition and dietetics consultant Dr Lynn Harbottle said: "The most important thing is to eat regularly and include the main food groups in your daily diet."

And remember, you might get a quick buzz from burgers and pizza, but the high will soon disappear.

5. Contact an old friend

Catching up with a pal you haven't seen for a while is not without its downfalls. This is particularly true on Blue Monday, when said old friend may also be in the doldrums.

The last thing any of us needs is another misery guts to add to our woes. On the other hand, rekindling an old friendship could be just the boost you need.

A word of warning if you take this particular piece of advice: Make sure the friend you contact is the one who used to tell loads of funny anecdotes that always made you smile, rather than the one who spent every waking hour in a darkened room watching the Dexter boxset on loop.

6. Look back

Try and think about the positive things you achieved in the last 12 months and plot how to build on them this year. This one is obviously fraught with difficulty.

In times of great sadness it is often tricky to recall anything positive. And let's be frank here, there may not have been anything positive to recall. But we can all take solace from small mercies.

Maybe you can glean positive feelings from the success of others? For example, wallow in the glory of that one time the football team you support won a match – Villa fans, I'm looking at you.

7. Set goals

To tie in with the last tip – set some goals of what you want to achieve in 2016. General goals, such as 'be a better person' or 'get a better job' can be too vague and seem impossible to achieve.

So experts recommend breaking your aims down into smaller chunks to make them more realistic. Researchers from the University of Liverpool found that people with depression have more generalised personal goals than non-depressed people.

Dr Joanne Dickson said that setting specific, realistic goals, 'may increase the chances of realising them, which could break the cycle of negativity which is coupled with depression'.

8. Book some tickets

Give yourself a treat to look forward to by buying some tickets to a gig or a weekend break. Pop superstars Mariah Carey and Ellie Goulding are both coming up at the NIA in march. Why not treat yourself to a night out?

When we're feeling low the easy option is to stay at home slumped in front of the television.

But a sounder frame of mind can be found away from the endless re-runs of NCIS and the Corrie omnibus.

9. Relax

Don't fret on this dismal day – read a book, go for a walk or anything else to put your mind at ease. You could even try meditation, or the latest trend – 'mindfulness'.

This involves knowing directly what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment.

Mark Williams, professor of clinical psychology at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, said: "An important part of mindfulness is reconnecting with our bodies and the sensations they experience.

"This means waking up to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment. When we allow ourselves to see the present moment clearly it can positively change the way we see ourselves and our lives."

And remember, tomorrow is a new day – and it's Tuesday – meaning Blue Monday can be consigned to the past for another year.

10. Sleep well

It might sound obvious, but if you've had enough shut-eye then you will probably feel better.

Emily Wooster, from the Mental Health Foundation, said sleep problems are 'strongly correlated' with feelings of depression.

Of course, when you're feeling blue getting your head down can be easier said than done.

One possible solution for next year's Blue Monday could be to force yourself to stay awake for the previous weekend. Such a ploy should lead even the most chronic insomniac to sleep through all of Monday.

By Peter Madeley