Monday the most stressful day for UK workers

Two thirds of people experience ‘Sunday Blues’, anxiety triggered by thoughts of work the following day, research has found.

The poll by mental health charity Mind of more than 700 full time workers in the UK found that women 71% of women and 62% of men experience the ‘Sunday Blues’.

As a result of this, more than half of women cited eating comfort food and one third reported drinking alcohol at home directly to help lift mood and prepare for the week.

Nearly three quarters of 25-34 year olds suffer from the ‘Sunday Blues’ and are more likely to eat comfort food than call someone for a chat to help them lift their mood. More than one third of this age group stated that they had to give themselves a pep talk to get themselves in the right mindset to face Monday at work.

The poll also revealed that 1 in 5 full-time workers have made an excuse not to go into work on a Monday in the last 12 months, with one third faking or considering faking illness, one fifth saying there has been an emergency at home and 1 in 6 pretending that there have been problems on public transport. 

The most common reason given for hating Mondays was that it was the most stressful day of the week – 1 in 3 admitted this – while a quarter said it is because they hate their job.

To challenge this, Mind is organising Happy Monday on March 10, which encourages people to have fun on the week’s least popular day by hosting their own fundraising events and spending quality time with family, friends and colleagues. Money raised will go to Mind to help it to continue to provide services to people with mental ill health.