Not actually joking?
The joke works because it is a bit true.
If you are reading this at 2am, three hours past when you meant to stop, having said "one more prompt" for the fifth time tonight, you already know the part that is not funny. The tools are new. The habit is old. Overwork, no off switch, building alone, the quiet worry that you cannot put it down. That is not a coding problem. That is just being a person.
If you need someone right now
If things feel heavier than tired, talk to someone tonight, not tomorrow.
UK: call Samaritans free on 116 123, any hour of any day. Or text SHOUT to 85258 to reach Shout, also free, also always awake.
US: call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or text HOME to 741741 for Crisis Text Line.
Free, confidential, and not a big deal to use.
There is a real version of this room
Here is the strange and rather lovely part. The joke already exists for real. Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous is an actual twelve step fellowship for compulsive tech use, and their own writing names AI directly. It is free, it meets online most days, and the people there understand the pull better than anyone. If any of this landed a little too close, that is the door.
→ internetaddictsanonymous.org
We do not take a penny for sending you there. Fellowships like this run on their own members and turn outside money away. We just think it should be easier to find.
The everyday version: burnout
Most of us are not in crisis. We are just worn out. Tired in a way sleep does not fix, telling ourselves it is fine because the work is going well. If that is you, Mental Health UK do some of the clearest work in the UK on burnout. They publish the annual Burnout Report and keep a plain, practical hub on spotting it and finding your way back.
They are also the charity we chip in to. A share of anything this daft project ever makes goes to them, and you can add to it here.
Then go to bed
The diff will still be there in the morning. So will we.