DARK days, foul weather, an almighty financial festive hangover, and goodness knows how long to go until your next holiday – sounds like a recipe for the January blues.

Indeed – January 21, dubbed Blue Monday, is said to be the most depressing day of the year.

And the Beat Blue Monday campaign predicts that the combination of economic misery, broken new year’s resolutions and bad weather could make this one of the worst ever.

However, there are things you can do to try and beat the blues, and often it’s little things that make the biggest difference, when it comes to giving your mind a well-needed boost.

January blues isn’t the only thing Brits are battling. The Mental Health Foundation carried out research into the state of our stress levels, and found that almost half (47 per cent) of adults revealed they were stressed every day or every few days, and 59 per cent said their life is more stressful than it was five years ago.

Stress isn’t always problematic. In small degrees, it’s a normal response and can actually be beneficial, making us perform better under pressure.

However, when stress is ongoing it can develop into more serious mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety disorders, as well as having an impact on physical health.

Foundation chief executive Dr Andrew McCulloch says the length of time people feel stressed is key to any health implications it may have.

“Prolonged, unpleasant, dysfunctional stress is what affects health,” he said.

The most common physical signs of stress include sleeping problems, sweating and loss of appetite. Very stressed people may have headaches, muscle tension, pain, nausea, indigestion and dizziness.

“What’s written on the mind is written on the body, said Dr McCulloch, “Where it comes out depends on the individual.

People who are continually stressed often drink a lot, and might smoke and eat a lot of comfort food, so they’re damaging their cardiovascular system at the same time as they’re stressing it out. It’s a double whammy.”

Professional help may be needed when stress seriously affects your life, and the first port of call should be a GP.

“People aren’t incompetent at managing stress, it’s just that they’ve got more stress to manage,” said Dr McCulloch.