The Most Depressing Day Of The Year?

Those British scientists are at it again, faithful readers.  Once again, they've declared the fourth Monday of January to be The Most Depressing Day Of The Year.  British scientist Dr. Cliff Arnall developed a scientific formula to calculate the most depressing day of the year.  And for its third time, it happened to fall on the fourth Monday of January. 

Here's Arnall's forumla: [W + (D-d)] x TQM x NA.   All of the letters and symbols apparently represent a sort of mathematical code to track the following:

W: How bad the weather is at this time of year.
D:  Amount of debt accumulated over the holidays minus how much is paid off.
T:  The time since the holidays.
Q: Amount of time passed since New Year’s resolutions have gone south.
M: Our general motivation levels.
NA: The need to take action.

Let's look at this realistically.  The weather and a lack of daylight is a major issue in January and February, especially in the northern latitudes. And that’s the primary cause of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).  We feel bummed because it's cold and cloudy and because it gets dark after supper time. 

Another universal dilemma around this time of year is debt.  I read that the average person spent $935 on Christmas gifts this year, and the majority of the $935 was charged.  When the bills start rolling in in January, it's more than enough to cause a person to become depressed. 

Psychologists say that late January is also time to confront reality.  Difficult decisions about jobs, family and relationships are often put off until after the holidays because people don't want any more drama than they already have. So while we may wake up feeling very positive on Jan. 1, life may look a lot less shiny a few weeks later when we start breaking our New Years resolutions.

Let's look at this another way, shall we?  Let's look at the formula in terms of me:

W: How bad the weather is at this time of year - other than a few days of really cold weather, we've had more warm and sunny days than we have cold days.  And Lord knows we haven't had any snow.  So I would give this part of the equation a very low numerical value.
D:  Amount of debt accumulated over the holidays minus how much is paid off.  Prior to receiving my bonus, I would have given this a numerical value to the 2nd power.  But after paying off about half of my entire debt, I'd give this a middle numerical value.
T:  The time since the holidays.  Up until this Friday, I haven't had a work day off since we came back from New Years.  But I'm getting ready for ten days away from work, so I'll also give this a middle-range numerical value.
Q: Amount of time passed since New Year’s resolutions have gone south. I made only one New Year's resolution and I broke it the third day of the new year.  So unfortunately, this gets a very high numerical value.
M: Our general motivation levels. I've started my spring cleaning a few months early, and I'm paying off bills, so I will say I'm very highly motivated now, giving this part of the equation a low numerical value.
NA: The need to take action.  As I already said, I'm doing my spring cleaning and decluttering early, and am on the road to financial freedm, so I've taken action already.  This part of the equation is also non-issue, so it gets a low numerical value.

So when we add, subtract, multiply and divide, I don't believe I'm depressed at all.  How can I be depressed when I leave for Las Vegas and The Trip Of A Lifetime in just four short days?  That's what I'm thinking.