December has arrived. And, I dare say much like you, I’m now fully into ‘argh, what needs to be sorted before it gets to that midpoint of the month when no one replies to your emails’ mode. Because, while I’ve previously written in this column about how, in the world of health journalism, January is one of the biggest months of the year, the festive season is still important. Sure, the twelfth month is associated with boozing early in the day; winding down on the gym sessions and eggnog over electrolytes. But, for the wellbeing-minded, there’s still topics which resonate amid the madness.

To drill into it, when it comes to online and social content, I’m thinking about sobriety around Christmas time and New Year; tips for handling an imperfect family situation; first person ideas speaking to grief spiking, or thoughts on how to create a non-traditional Christmas day. More existential topics like how the years we spent in the pandemic are shaping fear around the imminency of the decade’s midpoint, or that sense that you’ve not ‘achieved’ everything you imagined you with by this point are salient, too. Then, there’s always room for more lighthearted ideas that don’t speak specifically to the festivities as we slide further towards clocking off time. Has a celebrity mentioned a lesser-known type of therapy they use – say, Internal Family Systems – that could be spun into an explainer? What about their relationship to booze, and how it has changed? For all of this, data (X amount of people are choosing to shy away from alcohol; Y amount are embracing this new therapeutic modality) and experts (specialists in alcohol-free living; providers of therapies) are deeply necessary.

In terms of getting sorted ahead of 2025 breaking into view, perhaps we can help each other out?

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