Through the power of quantification and calculation, some Brit egghead has figured out that Jan. 24 is the most depressing day of the year!

And this year, it's on a Monday! Bonus!

An excerpt from a CTV.ca story:

The University of Cardiff's Dr. Cliff Arnall singled out today based on a complex calculation of six mood-affecting factors.

Arnall starts with the season's combination of shortened days and poor weather (W), and adds the post-Christmas financial burden of debt (D) minus monthly salary (d).

Then, he factors that with a combination of time since Christmas (T), the time since new year's resolutions were abandoned (Q), and divides that by the product of low motivation (M) and the feeling of needing to take action (NA).

In sum, the formula looks like: [W + (D-d)] x TQ M x NA

And when Arnall crunched the numbers, they added up to Britons' worst day of the year.

On a personal note, I find my (usually mild) seasonal affective disorder starts to lift about Jan. 21. You can start noticing a little bit more light in the day.

But I noticed when I lived much further north (Edmonton, Fort McMurray, High Prairie), on the three or four weeks on each side of the Winter Solstice, I'd sleep 10 or 11 hours per day and felt like I slept three or four.

Viva light!