Today Is The Whiniest Day Of The Year, You Whiners

Aww, poor baby. Would you like a little cheese with that whine? If you feel like complaining (or if you're sick of listening to everyone else's gripes), research suggests you're not alone; today could be the the whiniest day of the year.

The study, which was performed by a company called Upbeat (they make protein energy drinks), analysed over two million tweets collected over three years. According to the data, the first Monday after New Year's Day — a.k.a. today — is the day when we send the most frequent negative tweets.

This is hardly the most robust study out there, but it does remind us of a concept known as Blue Monday. This "depression equation" of sorts was originally devised for a travel agency by a man named Cliff Arnall. Arnall looked at variables such as debt, time since Christmas, and weather — and he declared the third Monday in January as the most depressed of all days. This idea has stuck around, despite the fact that most scientists have since dismissed it as pseudoscience that undercuts the severity of actual clinical depression. Even Blue Monday's creator has since gone on record saying we should all ignore the idea.

Truthfully, it's probably a futile effort to find a specific date when we're all at our most depressed (or complain-y), since the factors that influence emotional wellbeing vary so widely between individuals. But, if you feel like you have more reasons than usual to call the waaahmbulance today, here are an abundance of happiness-tracking apps that could help make your outlook a little sunnier.