Is Blue Monday bad for our mental health?

Blue Monday is supposedly the saddest day of the year. 15 years ago that idea was debunked, yet every year in the UK #bluemonday trends on Twitter and the internet is flooded with deals for holidays, ‘wellness’ deals and products offering to boost our mood.

In this episode we look at the discomfort around brands adopting mental health awareness as part of their marketing strategy with psychiatry researcher Melisa Kose. We unpack the mythical origins of the Blue Monday with the BBC’s head of statistics, Robert Cuffe. We also speak to Carmen Papaluca, from University of Notre Dame in Australia, who has studied how the aspirational aspects of Instagram damage the mental wellbeing of young women she teaches.

Presenter: Tina Daheley Producers: Lucy Hancock and Duncan Barber Mixed by Emma Crowe Editor: Philly Beaumont