Is it over yet? Americans celebrate the end of January, which to many, felt like years

Is it finally over? January is only 31 days long, but for many, the first month of the year felt like a lifetime.

Maybe it was coming to terms with the end of the holiday season, being forced to bundle up amid below-freezing temperatures, giving up alcohol for the month, or consuming a never-ending supply of breaking news. No matter the reason, it appears that across the board, most folks are glad January is over.

Celebrating the start of February? Here's what folks had to say about January, the month that felt like it was never going to end.

January is the least favorite month for 31% of Americans

In addition to January feeling like it was six months long − a popular sentiment shared on TikTok − a good amount of people just don't like the month altogether.

January is Americans' least favorite month, according to a YouGov poll, in which 31% of Americans reported the first month of the year to be at the bottom of their lists. And if casually disliking January wasn't enough, 13% of Americans reported hating it.

Content creators share collective distress

In an attempt to cope with the month that shall not be named, content creators took to social media to share their sentiments.

"I woke up and it's still January. It's been January for years now. How is that possible?" Tell Williams, known as @mrwilliamsprek on TikTok, said in a video that had more than 3.3 million views on Friday. "I need scientists to get involved and step in. Like someone call Bill Nye because how is it still January? I'm so tired."

In a video with more than 4.3 million views as of Thursday, TikToker Stephen Rigatoni pretends to have a conversation with someone off-screen about his New Year's resolutions.

"Oh my God, I already forgot about those. That's been so long ago," Rigatoni said when "asked" how resolutions were going.

Chiming in to the discourse, TikToker Riley Mitchell said in a video that he feels like Christmas should already be on the horizon.

"I'm pretty sure that January has been its own year. I mean, we have been through the (expletive) ring dinger, and it's only the first month of 2025," Mitchell said in his video. "I'm just saying, I feel like it's the 14th week of the first month and I feel like hell, by now we should be putting our Christmas trees back up."

More: January 2024 in photos: USA TODAY's most memorable pictures of the year

Get sunlight, tend to hobbies and volunteer time for others, experts say

Humor aside, January can be a serious source of depression and anxiety for some. About 5% of U.S. adults experience seasonal affective disorder, commonly referred to as seasonal depression, according to the American Psychiatric Association. Gloomy weather, fewer hours of daylight and a lack of Vitamin D can all be factors.

Seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression, is identified when an individual experiences a mood disorder (like depression or bipolar disorder) in a "seasonal pattern," Allicia Baum, director of Missouri State University's Counseling Center, told USA TODAY. A diagnosis is given based on how long a person is expressing the distress − generally two weeks, Baum said − and the degree in which it affects an individual's daily functions.

Baum reminded folks that there are free self-care options. She recommended taking brief walks outside − if the weather allows − feeding into favorite hobbies, journaling, and volunteering.

"Give up your time in a way that helps somebody else or something else," Baum said. "It triggers really great things in the brain when you're giving that time and it comes back to us almost immediately without us even having to think about it."

Let's recap. What happened in January?

An early morning truck attack in New Orleans killed 14 people in New Orleans in the first hours of 2025. The driver in that attack ‒ a U.S. citizen and Army veteran who described himself as a member of the Islamic State group ‒ was killed by police.

Later that day, a Tesla Cybertruck parked near the Trump International Hotel exploded, leaving one dead and seven injured.

The year also started with a nationwide blizzard, followed by an Arctic blast that affected much of the country and a "once-in-a-generation weather event" that hit the South. The winter weather occurred in tandem with the California wildfires − continuing to burn − that have killed at least 29 people, destroyed thousands of homes and burned more than 57,000 acres.

Within the same week, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's funeral brought together five past presidents, and filmmaker David Lynch, known for "Twin Peaks" and "Blue Velvet," died at the age of 78.

During Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, TikTok went dark in the U.S. for a little more than 12 hours before it was brought back by promises to "save" the platform by President Donald Trump, who was sworn into his second presidential term the next day.

On Jan. 22, a shooting at Antioch High School near Nashville, Tennessee left two students dead, including a teenage girl and the suspect shooter himself. Two more students were injured. It was the first school shooting of the year, as reported by Education Week.

And late on Wednesday night, an American Airlines passenger plan and Black Hawk helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport, triggering a massive recovery effort to search for bodies in the Potomac River. None of the 64 people on board the plane nor the three on the helicopter survived.

The day after the horrific crash, Mercedes Stevenson was drinking a half-sized bottle of champagne outside the security checkpoint at Reagan National Airport, partially for the anxiety she was feeling. Stevenson, 45, expressed some reservations about flying home to Atlanta on Thursday but was planning on putting on headphones to soothe the nerves. “This is the longest January ever,” she said. “Every time I open my phone, there's just an announcement. So it's like, regardless of whatever your political affiliation is, I'm just tired of the shock.”

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Contributing: Karissa Waddick, Bailey Schulz, Eve Chen and Bart Jansen

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is it really over? Americans celebrate end of least favorite month