Blue Monday: Mental Health Awareness and the impacts of technology on special needs communities
Monday, 19th January, is often referred to as Blue Monday — a day associated with low mood and emotional difficulty. While the idea of one single “most difficult day of the year” is debated, it serves an important purpose: it opens up conversations about mental health, wellbeing, and support.
For many people — particularly those within the Special Educational Needs (SEN)
community and the parent carers who support them — mental health challenges are not seasonal or temporary. They are ongoing, complex, and often invisible.
This Blue Monday, we want to widen the conversation and recognise how modern life - especially our growing reliance on technology and the digital world - impacts individuals with SEN and the families who care for them.
Mental Health and the SEN Community
People with SEN may experience anxiety, depression, and emotional distress in ways that are not always recognised or understood. As a result, mental health needs can be missed, misunderstood, or dismissed altogether.
Some contributing factors include:
● Difficulties with communication or emotional regulation
● Social isolation or exclusion
● Sensory overload
● Feeling misunderstood or unsupported
For individuals with SEN, low mood may not present as sadness. It can show up as
withdrawal, increased frustration, behavioural changes, or physical symptoms such as fatigue.
Awareness is key. Mental health support for people with SEN must be accessible, flexible, and individualised, recognising that one-size-fits-all approaches do not work.
Technology, Digital Life, and Mental Wellbeing
Technology plays a significant role in daily life and can be extremely positive for people with SEN. It can support:
● Communication
● Learning and independence
● Routine and structure
● Access to communities and interests
However, increased screen time and digital dependence can also bring challenges, particularly when balance is lost.
Potential impacts include:
● Reduced face-to-face interaction
● Increased comparison through social media
● Online misunderstanding or exclusion
● Difficulty switching off or regulating screen use
For neurodivergent individuals, online spaces can sometimes intensify feelings of
overwhelm, anxiety, or loneliness - even when technology is used as a coping tool.
The focus should not be on removing technology, but on promoting digital wellbeing and helping individuals build healthy, supported relationships with the digital world.
Parent Carers and Mental Health
Parent carers are often so focused on supporting their child that their own mental health is overlooked by others and by themselves. Caring responsibilities can involve emotional and physical exhaustion, constant advocacy and decision-making, sleep disruption, financial and work-related pressure and social isolation.
Technology can add another layer. Managing online school projects, therapy platforms, communication apps, and constant digital access can blur boundaries and remove opportunities to rest. Social media often shows the highlights reel of someone’s life, and you know what they say, ‘comparison is the thief of joy.’
Parent carers may experience low mood, anxiety, or burnout, yet feel unable to step back or ask for support. Recognising the mental health needs of parent carers is essential. Remember, supporting a child’s wellbeing starts with supporting the people around them.
Remember this Blue Monday
Mental health awareness should not be limited to one day, but days like this can help start conversations that continue throughout the year. For individuals with SEN and for parent carers, mental health support works best when it is compassionate, individualised, accessible and constant.