Unlooping the self: Ego dissolution and the collapse of recursive identity.
Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology September 11, 2025 C. H. Sawyer 1 citation
Losing one's sense of self—ego dissolution—occurs during psychedelic experiences, deep meditation, traumatic dissociation, and psychosis. This paper proposes a unifying concept called 'unlooping': the breakdown of recursive mental structures that normally construct and maintain identity. Drawing on predictive processing and enactive cognition, the authors interpret ego dissolution as a graded suspension of feedback loops responsible for agency, continuity, and self-boundary. Through phenomenological analysis and cross-contextual case studies, they argue that selfhood is not a fixed ontological constant but a contingent, dynamically enacted achievement. Unlooping reveals both the fragility and plasticity of identity, with implications for theory, methodology, and therapy.