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)

如果这星期一（1.23）你一起床就觉得郁闷，并且接下来发现越来越糟糕，这其中定有原因。一位研究人员推算昨天的确是一年中最令人沮丧的一天。 发明这套推算公式的人就是英国加的夫大学的心理学家克里夫·阿诺尔，他把沮丧的原因归结为债务累累、未实现的新年计划、阴冷的天气以及圣诞节过后很长时间等。 他说："大多数人在一月份的第三周开始意识到要还清圣诞节的购物帐单就必须得停止购物了。" 那些到月底才能领工资的人此时早已囊中羞涩了。克里夫·阿诺尔说："发薪日在即本是件好事，但是当人们突然发现自己无法还清圣诞节的帐单时，这往往给人造成更大的压力，。" "一般来说，一月的最后一星期和二月的第一个星期是一年中最冷的时候。"一月份的平均日照时间只有43小时，一天不到一个半小时。 英国公民咨询局和慈善机构撒马利坦会都表示这是他们一年中最忙的时候。 公民咨询局发言人唐·莱文说："人们此刻不断收到信用卡帐单，而且他们的消费很可能已经超出自己的偿还能力。大多数人在圣诞节前一星期领到工资，这意味着他们要比平时更长的时间才能领到一月份的工资。" 撒马利坦会的迈克·科布说："每年的这个时候，我们总会接到特别多的电话，很多人在这段时间情绪低落，甚至想自杀。日照减少引发季节性情绪失控，圣诞节期间暂时忘记的烦恼这时又都回来了。" (中国日报网站编译)