NPCs are not soulless automatons

NPCs are egregore-controlled humans, they still have an independent mind but their mind is enslaved and used as a tool for expressing the egregore mind, like a two-way radio channel.
see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egregore
Its possible to disrupt the link to egregore by subversive thought insertion(aka memes), allowing the original mind to assert its will and independent thought. The egregore can't focus on multiple mental challenges simultaneously and the "radio channel" has limited capacity.
NPCs can be reformed to PCs.

In the coming months, the semi-conscious NPCs will absorb the meme and will start asking themselves questions: Am i a NPC? How does my mind actually works? What is the source of my thoughts? What directs my thinking?
The psychological realization will be traumatic, i believe it may even cause suicides and extreme escapism(drugs/VR).
The meme is like opening the pandora box of psychological horror for many of them, an alien view that forces them to break their "lifescript" and question the most basic assumption that their mind is actually theirs.
The common scientific views about the mind and human psychology are studies done on NPCs.
There isn't anything to help them, only put them on anti-psychotics that damage their brains enough to ignore the questions.