  The Null Energy Condition is considered the most fundamental of the energy
conditions, on which several key results, such as the singularity theorems, are
based. The Casimir effect is one of the rare equilibrium mechanisms by which it
is breached without invoking modified gravity or non-minimal couplings to
exotic matter. In this work we propose an independent dynamical mechanism by
which it is violated, with the only ingredients being standard (but
non-perturbative) QFT and a minimally coupled scalar field in a double-well
potential. As for the Casimir effect, we explain why the Averaged Null Energy
Condition should not be violated by this mechanism. Nevertheless, the transient
behaviour could have profound impacts in Early Universe Cosmology.
