Bravo, you are about to have made it through the longest month.
November reminds us of our vulnerability. We may well know the scenario by heart, the mines are lower and the hope more rare. Our eco-anxiety boils over crowded terraces; the sun bids us good night before supper; seasonal depression whispers “cuckoo”; and we don’t even have an episode of Pet and D’Before the crash to numb the gloom of our evenings…
November is endless. The worst of months, according to some. (I’m in.)
My boss at The Press think otherwise, however. She told me about a debate that divides her colleagues: is November’s sad reputation overrated? According to Isabelle, we are in the field. After all, it’s the month that takes us straight to the holidays, leisure and our loved ones… What good does March have to offer? Nothing.
What is really the worst month of the year?
I’ll give you two spoilers: 1) it’s relative to each person’s situation; 2) this is a much less trivial question than it seems.
You will not be surprised to learn that there is no clear verdict on this issue. So I myself surveyed a part of the population – a part probably too homogeneous to be approved by science, I named: my Facebook friends. I still collected more than 250 answers to the question “What is the worst month between November and March, in your eyes?” “.
If the sample is unreliable, I find it vaguely impressive.
Major trends quickly emerged.
While some people love November because the holidays are approaching, others hate it for the same reason. For them, it is synonymous with future loneliness, isolation and mourning.
Some see November as the start of a long marathon. We know what awaits us: weeks of parking problems and icy sidewalks. Mars at least marks the end of the journey.
Although the thing can also be seen in reverse, as evidenced by the response of the humorist Antoine Desjardins: “November is very bad, but at least it does not come with an accumulation of months of shit before him. »
Among the defenders of March, however, are the arguments of rising degrees, spring skiing, sugar shacks and spring break. (I imagine that what is seen as an advantage by the teaching staff may also be a negative point for some parents.)
The fact remains that about half of those polled believe that March is the worst month. That of false hopes, in fact. We think we are done with winter, but we are wrong; sports are limited and drowned in slush ; it’s the start of tax season… Worse still, it’s the month we’re supposed to be happy.
In November, at least, it’s common to admit sadness.
(This is where the depth of the question surprises.)
“As a guideline, March is infamous for its higher rate of suicides, along with April and May. Experts explain these statistics by the fact that depressed people sometimes cling to the aura of renewal associated with the arrival of spring and summer. The hope that the suffering will be diluted as the snow melts. For some people who are already depressed, spring disappoints and increases suffering. P.S. Go get help if you feel concerned, you are not alone! »
This is what Julie Christine Cotton answered to my question, on Facebook. I called the professor at the faculty of medicine at the University of Sherbrooke to find out more.
The one who teaches in the Department of Community Health Sciences taught me that while we are well aware of the serotonin deficit that can occur in the fall, we sometimes forget that spring also affects people.
For some people living with depressive disorders, for example, this season feels like a missed opportunity for rebirth…
“Having experienced postpartum depression, I recognize myself in that,” says Julie Christine Cotton. The light is bright, everyone is excited that spring is coming, you wonder, “Why don’t I feel that thrill, too?” You wait for this magic to happen. »
When the magic isn’t there, March and the months that follow can weigh on us like a failed momentum. According to the doctor in psychoeducation, fall and spring are therefore two ideal seasons to hear from our loved ones.
Catherine Ethier is absolutely right when she invites us to offer a little lasagna to the people we love.
And if cooking isn’t your forte, why not invite a friend for a walk?
“We tend to do fewer activities with the return of the cold, remarks Julie Christine Cotton. We know that there are increases in gym registrations in January. People are then downstream from the repercussions of autumn — the lack of light, isolation and depression — but the best time to have good lifestyle habits is perhaps precisely in the fall, in prevention. »
It would be nice if March and November could become the months of the helping hand, the little lasagna and the healthy walk. Because we agree that both are just as ugly, after all.
As columnist Marc-André Mongrain pointed out to me, Tom Waits sums up the situation rather well, in the song November…
” November has tied me to an old dead tree / Get word to April to rescue me »
“November chained me to an old dead tree / Tell April to rescue me. »