Watch out for the third monday in January - according to The Samaritans, it's officially the most depressing day of the year and has been dubbed "Blue Monday".

The highest volume of calls to the organisations from people feeling depressed or down are made during January and February, as people find themselves alone again after the festivities, and anxieties that may have been put on hold during the holiday season re-emerge.

New Year's day is traditionally the busiest day of the festive period for The Samaritans, but this year Boxing Day topped the list, when 5396 people called the national number for help - a 29% increase over the same day in 2005. The number of calls to the national UK number on New Years Day was 5350.

So what's the reason behind the increase in Boxing Day calls? The Samaritans put it down to people who spent Christmas Day with friends or family returning home on Boxing day, and feeling alone and unsupported.

If you're feeling down over the New Year period, you can contact The Samaritans in confidence on 08457 90 90 90 (1850 60 90 90 in the Republic of Ireland), write to them at Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA or email jo@samaritans.org. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you can use their minicom number - 08457 90 91 92.