Unpopular Opinion: December Is Emotional Exposure Therapy.

December has a strange personality. Some hate it, some love it. It is the last month of the year and really acts like a therapist asking all the hard questions. And the timing could not be worse, as it is also the most stressful month of the year. But that is exactly what therapists do: they appear when your life is a mess and insist it is the perfect time to reflect.

Most of us enter December already stressed. We are tired from the whole year, socially exhausted and our to-do list could not be longer: finish work projects, buy presents, decorate our homes, attend social events, and on top of that be cheerful and somehow relax. 

The weather does not help either. It is grey most days, cold all the time, and catching some sunlight feels like trying to win the lottery. It is basically the perfect reflection of our mental well-being: Hello, winter blues! Snow would at least make things look pretty and magical, but let’s be honest, the chances of that happening in 2025 are slim. 

And right in the middle of all this chaos, December starts asking all those deeply inconvenient questions: 

So…how have you really been this year? 

What actually mattered? 

What drained you? 

What do you want to do differently in the upcoming year?

It is intrusive. It is uncomfortable. But yes, it is necessary.

December is the only month forcing you into reflection because it knows you would not schedule that session yourself, yet it is long overdue. It encourages you to look back, to not judge but actually understand yourself. It helps you see what you are proud of, what you have outgrown, what you are not carrying into the next one and what you truly want moving forward.

And while December asks the hard questions, it simultaneously makes sure you do not fall too deeply into a spiral of melancholy.  It gives you the gentle, soft part of therapy too: Besinnung. The calming and grounding  practice of remembering what truly matters. Suddenly you notice the warm lights at home, the smell of something baking, the comfortable time spent with people you love. These moments let you exhale, reconnect with yourself, just be and heal a little.

And then there will come the moment in December in which you can actually pause for a while.  In that moment you feel almost trapped in time. The rush stops. The pressure fades.  In these moments December does its best work: pulling you out of the noise, holding you still, and giving you the space to feel human again.

Because beneath all the shopping stress, weather gloom and existential evaluation, December is deeply intentional. it does slow you down, so that you get the chance to see yourself clearly again. It closes chapters that are ready to end, tidies emotional damage, and most importantly, gives you hope for new beginnings. Chaotically, yes. But honestly.

And that is the real unpopular December opinion: Underneath all the stress, December is the month we actually need the most. It is the oddly effective therapist who shows up right on time, forces you to feel what you have been too busy to feel and leaves you with hope and motivation to try again.

by Alicia Fischer