A study of 2,000 adults found they suffer an average of eight sad days a month, with a quarter feeling at their lowest during January.
Top winter gloom inducers include the weather, shorter days with dark mornings and evenings and feeling cold.
Following the findings, a mood-boosting billboard has been unveiled, that dispenses light therapy to help banish the January blues.
The 4.4 x 6 metre advertisement, in the shape of a giant doughnut box, beams out white light that can help banish SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Emma Colquhoun, spokesperson for Krispy Kreme, which commissioned the research and created the installation, said: “We’ve just had Blue Monday, often referred to as the most depressing day of the year, making this week arguably one of the toughest.
“And the study indicates we’re not far wrong. From the national average of nine low moods in January, we hope today won’t be one.
“Opening a box of doughnuts is one way to bring joy into people’s lives – so we wanted to make that literal.
“This is the only doughnut box in the world to deliver light therapy that can help banish Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).”
The study also revealed the first month of the year is when people most feel the need for an injection of joy.
Spending time with friends and family is the top way people combat January blues, followed by listening to music, relaxing and going outdoors.
However, the average person spends just under an hour a day outdoors in winter – and estimates only 44 minutes of that is in direct sunlight.
While one in five only get between one and 15 minutes a day under the winter sun’s rays.
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