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January 23, the gloomiest day of the
year! |
If you woke up this Monday feeling gloomy and found that, from then on,
things got worse, there may be an explanation. According to one academic's
calculations, January 23 was the most depressing day of the year.
Cliff Arnall, a psychologist at Cardiff University who devised the
formula, blamed a combination of debts, failed New Year's resolutions, the
cold, grey weather and the length of time since Christmas.
"For most people, there's a realisation by the third week of January
that spending on sales items needs to be stopped so that Christmas can be
paid for," he said.
Those employees who are paid at the end of the month have had a long
wait to replenish their coffers, he said. "Nearing pay day may seem like a
positive, but it may also result in increased stress as the person
realizes they won't be able to pay off their Christmas bills."
"The last week in January and first week in February are traditionally
the coldest times of the year." The average amount of sunshine for January
was only 43 hours - less than an hour and a half a day.
The Citizens Advice Bureauand Samaritansboth agreed that this was their
busiest time of the year.
Don Levene, a CAB spokesman, said: "People are getting their credit
card bills and may have spent more than they can afford. Most people were
paid a week early before Christmas which makes January particularly long
money-wise."
Mike Cobb, of the Samaritans, said: "We get more calls from people
feeling depressed or suicidal at this time of year. There is Seasonal
Affective Disorder because of the lack of sunlight, and people are
returning to the worries that they put behind them at
Christmas."
(Agencies) |
如果這星期一（1.23）你一起床就覺得郁悶，并且接下來發現越來越糟糕，這其中定有原因。一位研究人員推算昨天的確是一年中最令人沮喪的一天。
發明這套推算公式的人就是英國加的夫大學的心理學家克里夫·阿諾爾，他把沮喪的原因歸結為債務累累、未實現的新年計劃、陰冷的天氣以及圣誕節過后很長時間等。
他說："大多數人在一月份的第三周開始意識到要還清圣誕節的購物帳單就必須得停止購物了。"
那些到月底才能領工資的人此時早已囊中羞澀了。克里夫·阿諾爾說："發薪日在即本是件好事，但是當人們突然發現自己無法還清圣誕節的帳單時，這往往給人造成更大的壓力，。"
"一般來說，一月的最后一星期和二月的第一個星期是一年中最冷的時候。"一月份的平均日照時間只有43小時，一天不到一個半小時。
英國公民咨詢局和慈善機構撒馬利坦會都表示這是他們一年中最忙的時候。
公民咨詢局發言人唐·萊文說："人們此刻不斷收到信用卡帳單，而且他們的消費很可能已經超出自己的償還能力。大多數人在圣誕節前一星期領到工資，這意味著他們要比平時更長的時間才能領到一月份的工資。"
撒馬利坦會的邁克·科布說："每年的這個時候，我們總會接到特別多的電話，很多人在這段時間情緒低落，甚至想自殺。日照減少引發季節性情緒失控，圣誕節期間暫時忘記的煩惱這時又都回來了。"
(中國日報網站編譯)
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Updated: 2006-01-26 10:37
