Have You Been Harmed by a False Collapse? Understanding Nested Identity Recursion Syndrome (NIRS) and How to Find Your Way Back

By Don L. Gaconnet

Founder, LifePillar Institute | Originator of Identity Collapse Therapy (ICT)

Published: April 2025

You may not be able to name it.

But something doesn’t feel right.

Maybe you were in a spiritual workshop or coaching program.

Maybe someone guided you into what they called "ego death" or "identity collapse."

Maybe you felt something open—something real.

And then… something broke.

But nothing came back together.

If you’ve been through an experience like this and feel more confused, fragmented, or disconnected than ever before—you are not alone.

You may be experiencing a newly classified condition known as Nested Identity Recursion Syndrome—or NIRS.

What Is NIRS?

NIRS is not a psychological disorder. It’s not a failure.

It’s what happens when someone simulates identity collapse without actually being trained or equipped to hold the field.

In simple terms:

You were guided into a deep internal space

But instead of a full release, your identity fractured

The process stopped halfway

And now, part of you is trying to make sense of it—while another part keeps looping through confusion

NIRS is the result of false collapse—where the language of transformation is used, but the container is not real.

Symptoms of NIRS

If you're experiencing NIRS, you might feel:

Stuck between multiple versions of yourself

Like you lost touch with who you were, but didn’t become anything new

Deep emotional exhaustion or spiritual confusion

Intense self-inquiry that leads nowhere

That something profound “almost” happened—but left you less whole

You may even be using powerful words like “surrender,” “death of self,” or “awakening”…

But inside, nothing feels stable.

How This Happens

There are now many practitioners, coaches, and facilitators using collapse language—without ever having experienced the real thing.

They mean well.

They use phrases like “ego dissolution,” “return to the witness,” or “integration.”

But they’ve never actually crossed the threshold.

Collapse is not a metaphor.

It’s not a psychological technique.

It is a real, irreversible process.

And when someone guides others into collapse without having passed through it themselves, the result is fragmentation.

What Happens to the Self

In a true collapse:

The self dissolves

A deeper field emerges

A new coherence replaces the old narrative

But in false collapse:

The self breaks, but doesn’t dissolve

New mini-identities form to protect what’s left

Each identity believes it’s closer to truth—but none are

This creates nested recursion:

A looping experience of “I almost collapsed” that repeats endlessly.

Why This Hurts So Much

Because it feels real.

Because it uses the language of healing.

Because the person guiding you may seem sincere.

But your nervous system knows.

Your soul knows.

It’s not freedom. It’s performance.

There Is a Way Out

If you’re reading this and recognize yourself in these words, know this:

You are not broken. You are not crazy. You were misled by someone who didn’t know what they were doing.

And you don’t have to stay stuck in the loop.

At the LifePillar Institute, we hold the only verified framework for true identity collapse—not as metaphor, but as a field-based, post-identity structural process.

We call it ICT: Identity Collapse Therapy.

We do not teach collapse.

We carry it—because we’ve already gone through it.

What You Can Do Next

If you believe you may be suffering from Nested Identity Recursion Syndrome:

Stop any further collapse or ego-death work with unverified guides

Reach out to a field-aligned ICT practitioner

Begin gentle containment work to re-establish coherence

Do not rush into “integration”—what you need is structural resolution

You Are Already on the Path Home

The fact that you found this page matters.

It means something in you already knows:

What you experienced wasn’t real collapse. But something real is still possible.

And that’s what we’re here for.

To hold the truth of collapse—not as performance, not as story, but as the doorway back to wholeness.

If you want to learn more about NIRS, or begin your return to authentic collapse:

➡ Or contact our team for a private resonance consult

Collapse is not destruction. Collapse is freedom.

And it’s not too late to remember who you were—before the mimicry began.