January viewed as the most depressing month of the year

Reach Insights Press Release

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9th January 2019

January viewed as the most depressing month of the year

Bad weather (72%) and dark mornings and evenings (71%) to blame

Around one in two people in Ireland feel low and deflated in January

With the Christmas holidays having come and gone for another year and 2019 well underway, the Winter Blues or ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’ are often cited as reasons for feeling a little down at this time of the year. To understand more about the Winter Blues and Irish Winters, iReach has recently conducted a nationally representative survey of 1001 people.

January (56%) is seen by an enormous margin as the most depressing month of the year. There is an interesting variation between age groups as 60% of 18-34-year olds chose January compared with only 46% of those over 55.

72% of people who selected January as the most depressing month did so because of bad weather, with dark mornings and evenings (71%), returning work (42%), a bad financial situation (41%) and taking down Christmas decorations (40%) as the top five reasons for disliking January.

November (16%), February (10%) and December (10%) follow as the least popular months of the year.

As for disliking Winter in general, poor weather and lack of natural light stand out as the main themes. 57% of respondents dislike Winter because of the shorter days, with dark mornings on 56% and the weather at 55% following close behind.

For adults under 34, 51% feel low and deflated in the wake of the festive period, with only 29% of those aged over 55 feeling the same way.

About iReach Insights

iReach Insights provides a range of research and market intelligence services in Ireland and Europe. iReach has built a Consumer Decisions Research Panel of 40,000 members in Ireland, delivering robust research insights. The survey questions were included in the Nationally Representative iReach Consumer Decisions Omnibus run between the 13^th December and the 20^th December and has a 3% Confidence Interval and 95% Confidence Level.

Questions asked of participants as follows:

Do you usually feel deflated and low when you return to work in January in the wake of the festive period?

Which is the following reason for your Winter Blues after the Christmas Break?

Which month do you think is the most depressing month of the year?

Why did you choose January?

What do you dislike about Winter?

iReach Insights Limited – Temple Hall, Temple Road, Blackrock, CO. Dublin, IRELAND.

iReach Managing Director: Oisin Byrne
T: 01-214 3740 or email: PR@ireachhq.com