Now that Christmas and New Year is behind you do you struggle with feeling sluggish, more pessimistic and less motivated than usual?  The beginning of the year is often a time when many people experience very low mood. The month of January is often associated with high levels of depressive episodes. While the idea of 'Blue Monday' is reportedly a marketing invention by a travel company many mental health organisations report a 25% in the incidence of client depression. In today's episode we discuss the difference between clinical depression and short term low mood episodes.  Our moods fluctuate all the time and a short period of low mood does not mean that we are depressed. We look at the reasons for the high number of people feeling low after Christmas. We also look at the impact of depression on individual partners as well as the couple system.For more info on approaches to addressing and treating depression please listen to our podcast of the same title on 3 May 2021.The PHQ9 is a short questionnaire which measures the severity of depression. (Depression Severity: 0-4 none, 5-9 mild, 10-14 moderate, 15-19 moderately severe, 20-27 severe). Please be advised to contact a mental health professional if your depression severity is high.We are adding more and more resources on our website The Relationship Maze - head over there now and find new ways to help you improve your relationships.Get additional show notes on our podcast website here.