憂鬱一月成英國情侶“分手月”

Short days, miserable weather and a lack of cash。

It's no wonder January is the worst month for couples。

Average Brits argue rise to an average of eight minutes a day during the month - and two thirds have broken up with a lover at the start of the year, research has revealed。

The January blues means people spend 15 hours a day at home - causing 'cabin fever'。

If they are strong enough to stick at it couples will waste four hours in the month fighting - but for some the idea of the tough month was so bad they broke up as part of a New Years resolution。

Behavioural Psychologist Donna Dawson said: 'Cabin Fever is a real phenomenon that takes place during the dark winter months, particularly January。

'The lack of sunlight can make us feel lethargic and depressed, and the lack of exercise and the fact that we are cooped up in a stuffy, centrally-heated house can make us feel edgy, irritable and stressed。

'Add boredom to the mix, alongside any financial issues and too much empty time with our partners, and you have the perfect recipe for arguments and consequent break-ups.'

The study of over 1,000 Brits by Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance found that long hours at home result in 20 arguments with their other halves during the month。

Compared with the 14 hours and 48 minutes a day in January that they spend cooped up during the summer months people spend just ten hours and five minutes at home and couple have just 16 arguments。

Over two thirds of Brits blamed the weather for wanting to spend more time indoors, while 65 percent said it was the lack of daylight and a third said they were tightening their belts after Christmas。

The January blues struck 38 percent with under 25s being the worst hit at 48 percent and almost half of Brits said January was the most depressing month of the year。晝短夜長，天氣陰冷，還缺錢花。

難怪一月對於情侶來說是最糟糕的一個月份。

研究顯示，一月份普通英國人平均每天吵架的時間爲8分鐘，三分之二的英國人在年初和情人分手。

“一月憂鬱”指的是人們每天在家待的時間長達15個小時，引發了“幽居病”。

如果情侶們可以堅強地忍耐下去，他們在這個月將要浪費四個小時的時間吵架。但某些情侶由於這個月實在太難熬就分手了，這也成了他們實施的新年決心之一。

行爲心理學家多納•道森說：“幽居病是在陰鬱的冬天特別是一月份發生的一種真實現象。

“缺少陽光會讓我們昏昏欲睡、心情抑鬱，而缺少鍛鍊，成天待在不通風的集中供暖的屋子裏，則讓我們焦躁易怒，精神緊張。

“再加上無聊和經濟問題，而且和另一半在一起有太多的時間要打發，這幾個因素的組合是釀成吵架甚至最終分手的完美處方。”

Sheilas’ Wheels家庭保險公司開展的這一涵蓋了1000多名英國人的研究發現，長時間待在家中導致英國人這個月和另一半吵架多達20次。

英國人一月份在家時間平均每天爲14小時48分鐘，與此相比，夏天人們平均每日待在家中的時間只有10小時5分鐘，而夏天情侶平均只吵架16次。

超過三分之二的英國人將自己更願待在家裏歸咎於天氣，而65%的人認爲是晝短夜長的緣故，還有三分之一的人稱他們在過了聖誕節後就開始勒緊褲腰帶過日子了。

英國有38%的人遭受“一月憂鬱”的困擾，其中25歲以下的人受創最嚴重，憂鬱者多達48%。此外，近半數英國人稱一月是一年中最令人抑鬱的月份。

Vocabulary:

blues: 憂鬱

cabin fever: 幽居病；艙熱症(由於禁閉、孤立所引起的焦急等症候)

lethargic: 瞌睡的；愛睡的

coop up: 監禁；將……禁錮在狹小空間

stuffy: 通風不良的；窒息的

centrally-heated: 集中供暖的，由中央系統供應暖氣的

edgy: 急躁的

tighten one's belt: 束緊褲帶，省吃儉用；縮緊預算