Overview
- The notion dates to a 2005 travel promotion with psychologist Cliff Arnall, whose widely publicized ‘equation’ for the year's saddest day has been rejected as unscientific.
- January does bring genuine mood pressures—post-holiday routine, financial strain, cold weather and stalled resolutions—and repeated media cues can shape expectations and worsen how people feel, psychologists note.
- Workplace coverage ties the conversation to productivity: reports in Mexico cite more than 16,000 million pesos a year in corporate losses from chronic stress, with the ILO estimating up to a 4% hit to global GDP from mental‑health issues.
- Burnout indicators are high in Mexico, with surveys reporting roughly 54% of employees feeling burned out early in the year and IMSS data putting fatigue at 75% of workers.
- Experts urge employers to treat the third Monday in January as a prompt for sustained support—clearer roles, human connection, flexible work—and note WHO findings that every dollar invested in mental health can return about four in productivity.