They say laughter is the best medicine, but I’m not sure they meant it as a remedy for the kind of exhaustion that makes you fall asleep on the couch at 6 p.m., stumble to bed at 2 a.m., and then rise at 5 a.m. as if you had a restful night. If life is an ongoing experiment, my past week has been a case study in sleep deprivation, existential confusion, and Netflix-fueled recovery. Naturally, I turned to comedy shows to nurse my battered brain cells back to life. Cue Shrinking, Platonic, and Colin from Accounts—my companions in navigating the sheer absurdity of adulthood.

What do these shows have in common, besides being my digital therapist in these sleep-deprived times? Biting insights. Mid-life crises. Disruptive changes to life’s routine. They dive deep into that sweet spot where the tragicomic realities of adulthood meet the hilarity of flawed human nature.

Take Shrinking. The protagonist, a therapist no less, decides to throw out the rulebook and just… wing it. Maybe there’s something comforting about watching another therapist go rogue while I, a psychologist, sit on my couch contemplating the merits of giving up structure altogether. Could the answer to burnout be as simple as giving the middle finger to decorum? Watching the characters navigate grief, relationships, and their own emotional incompetence is oddly liberating. It’s like therapy without the copay.

Then there’s Platonic, which serves as a reminder that age is just a number, but emotional immaturity can stretch across decades. Watching two friends hit midlife with all the grace of a bull in a china shop makes my sleep-deprived self feel strangely validated. Maybe it’s not just me struggling to balance work, family, and fleeting personal aspirations—maybe it’s all of us.

Colin from Accounts is the cherry on top. With a seemingly random dog accident bringing two strangers together, it’s a reminder that life’s most significant disruptions often come in the smallest, furriest packages. The unpredictability of life’s plot twists doesn’t seem so overwhelming when presented with a comedic touch. In fact, it becomes a source of connection. Maybe even inspiration.

So here’s my takeaway after a week of near-constant couch surfing: When life feels like it’s spiraling out of control—when you’re too tired to think, too wired to rest, and stuck in the endless grind—sometimes all you need is a well-timed laugh and a reminder that none of us really know what we’re doing. Mid-life crisis, quarter-life crisis, third-of-the-way crisis… call it what you will. We’re all just figuring it out, one absurd moment at a time.

Until the next binge-worthy breakdown, I’ll see you in the morning (or whatever ungodly hour I decide to wake up).