Rainy Days and Mondays…

 For me, a week full of rain always brings to mind that iconic Carpenter’s song Rainy Days and Mondays. I can feel myself start to hum the tune when the grey skies linger. Lyrics, that have found a place in the deep storage crevices of my mind, are brought forth by the persistent raindrops, whether it’s a Monday or not.

“What I’ve got they used to call the blues

Nothin’ is really wrong.

Feelin’ like I don’t belong.

Walkin’ around

Some kind of lonely clown

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”

Although the title speaks of weather and a day of the week, the message is a more serious subject…the emotional blues. Defining the blues, is a little bit complicated. “Feeling blue” is a saying that describes melancholy or sadness. It is a poetic way of conveying an emotion that is hard to pinpoint or to put into words.

The blues usually come and go, showing up with the most common symptoms of sadness, lack of motivation and the desire to be left alone. Many times, the feeling can be incorrectly categorized as depression. The one thing that separates the blues from the more serious emotion of depression, is that people can usually identify the cause of their sadness, as a result of a specific issue, recent change or life difficulty. With the ability to identify the source of their melancholy comes the path toward improving their mood. In our next blog, we’ll discuss ways that may help you get through a rainy day or Monday set of the blues.

*When sadness persists for two weeks or more and there is no relief from the mood when the cause goes away, it is a good idea to contact a doctor or mental health professional.