Most Breakups Happen on First Monday of December

by Colleen Barrett 1

January may claim the most depressing day of the year, but the first Monday in December has the most breakups. The study that dissected our Facebook profiles and turned our lives into line graphs warned December, the month of a million breakups, would come, but I didn't realize there would be one ominous day, Dec. 6.

Of course, as we pointed out, people don't exactly jump up and change a relationship status immediately after a breakup. Some people don't touch it for weeks, others hide their relationship status for good, and a few just wait for someone new. But whether people break up on Wednesday, Thursday, or over the whole weekend, they're most likely to change their profiles on the infamous Monday.

Regardless of a breakup's actual day, I do think the study illuminates a collective end-of-year relationship cleanup, the dark side of the holidays. Maybe people realize commitment's real when dates threaten to mix with family? Meeting the family can be stressful, and sometimes it's just easier to answer the single question.