Blue Monday

Mr. Cliff Amal created a mathematical equation which considers weather, debt, the inability to pay the debt, amount of time since Christmas, and time since failing at New Year’s resolutions to prove that the 3^rd Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year.  

This equation leaves a lot of room for error.    

First, Mr. Amal must think everyone lives in cities and states that are cold. We don’t! Lots of us live in cities and states which are warm all year round. We can throw that exponent out. 

Second, Mr. Amal assumes everybody uses credit cards for Christmas. Again not true. There is a big percentage of us who use actual cash money for gifts. There is another group of people who can not afford to purchase even one gift! So, again we can throw that factor out. Also, Mr. Amal must believe everybody in America is Christian and therefore must celebrate Christmas. We are a diverse group in America and it is a fact that all of us do not celebrate Christmas. We need to throw out his factor for the “amount of time since Christmas.” 

And finally, Mr. Amal presumes that everybody in America has made a New Year resolution. Well, how can he know that? Does he know everybody in America? Do we notify Mr. Amal when we fail at our resolution? I think it safe to throw this factor out as well.    

No mathematic equation can predict a depression. Depression is a serious mental health issue and for Mr. Amal to make light of depression is wrong.

I felt irritated last night as I watch the nightly news and Brian Williams told me I was supposed to be depressed. Wow! Sometime media is just too much!   

Depression put simply, is a chemical imbalance of the neurotransmitters in our brain. To be specific, serotonin, norepinephren, and dopamine are the chemicals in our brain that need to be tweaked when depression occurs.    

Now, there is such a condition called seasonal affective disorder. People living in cold climates typically experience this problem in the autumn and winter. Even with this disorder, which is serious, the cause is an imbalance of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. 

I’m sure Mr. Amal meant no harm, but I believe he needs to stay in the mathematics department and stay out of the psychiatry department!  

Do not allow the media to tell you when to be depressed. Not even for fun! Because there is nothing fun about depression. That’s my rant for today.  

Tags: depression, Math