I've seen this happen to two different German guys that I knew. Neither of them managed to put their lives back together afterwards. What also stands out for me about them is that they were complete jerks to others when they were 'riding high' and never for a second considered that the tables might be turned some day. But when that happened the amount of soft revenge they had to deal with was such that one of them removed himself from society completely. Because all of the supplicants when he was wealthy had his number when he wasn't in control of their lives anymore. Both ended up divorced.

Your description of the ground beneath breaking up over again and keep falling deeper is very apt. That's exactly how it happened.