Forget ’Blue Monday’ - study shows half of Irish families are happy

Today is known as ’Blue Monday’ - the most depressing day of the year, according to experts.

Today is known as ’Blue Monday’ - the most depressing day of the year, according to experts.

The memories of Christmas are fading but our bank accounts are still suffering and the weather is usually bad.

To avoid the effects of Blue Monday, people are being advised to exercise, make plans with friends, watch a feel good movie try some meditation or treat yourself to a coffee.

However, according to a recent survey just over half of Irish families say they are happy with their lives.

The research for Celtic Pure Water shows only 4% feel unhappy. The survey was carried out across 679 Irish families with children up to 18 years of age, to give an insight into Irish family life and what makes us happy.

Munster families are the least-happiest (50%) and those in Leinster (excluding Dublin) the happiest (59%) compared to the national average.

Money continues to be a worry with 39% claiming that if they could change one thing about their life it would be to have more money.

Almost half (45%) of Irish families make time to eat dinner together every day while 44% do so several times a week.

The purest moment of daily life is between family dinner and bedtime with a quarter of people voting for each.

Irish families say that their favourite weekend activity is eating out followed by visiting the park or playground. Half of families enjoy trips to the cinema and four in 10 favour nature walks.

For parents, the birth of their child was the purest life experience followed by their child saying I love you for the first time and their wedding day.

"This is an uplifting set of survey results, from Celtic Pure Water, showing that over half of Irish parents are happy," said Dr David Coleman, Clinical Psychologist and Celtic Pure Ambassador.

"It is good for the soul to hear that Irish families list spending time together as one of the purest pleasures they have. I am also really heartened by the fact that 45 per cent of families make the time to eat together every day.

"As a child and family psychologist, I have long promoted the need for us to catch key family times, like mealtimes to reconnect with each other.

"Of course in my experience, as both a psychologist and a parent, it is just as important for us to mind ourselves, carving out some personal time, as this re-energises and refreshes us for the demands of busy family life."