Player’s Handbook
Level of Consciousness
No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
Albert Einstein
Regression
Understanding level debuffs.
Within a traditional roleplaying game, your level can be debuffed by a monster, causing it to be lower than it usually is.
In life, the same thing can occur when our monstrous fears get the better of us. A perfect example of this was the rise of Nazism in America in the 1930s.