Fig.: said of a situation that causes destruction, anguish or misfortune, from which there is no escape

I'm telling you, this thing will be the end of me

Ti assicuro che questo affare è per me una vera camicia di Nesso

To survive the economic disaster caused by the pandemic, the government got into heavy international debts, but what was supposed to help us ended up being the poisoned shirt of Nessus: the debts are choking our entire economy making any chance of economic recovery almost impossible

Per sopravvivere al disastro economico causato dalla pandemia, il governo è incorso in pesantissimi debiti internazionali, ma ciò che avrebbe dovuto aiutarci è invece diventato la camicia avvelenata di Nesso: i debiti stanno strangolando l'intera economia rendendo qualsiasi tentativo di ripresa economica quasi impossibile

At this point, we may say that the campaign to close the budgetary policy in a Nessus' shirt, is over

A questo punto, la campagna per chiudere in una camicia di Nesso la politica di bilancio, può dirsi chiusa

From Greek mythology. Nessus was a Centaur who, upon payment, carried people across the river Evenus. When Herakles (Hercules) arrived with his new bride Deianeira, Nessus carried her across the river on his back and then tried to violate her. Herakles, who was swimming behind them, shot him with a poisoned arrow. The Centaur, dying and wanting to hit back, told Deianeira to preserve the blood from his wound, as his blood would ensure her husband's love for ever. Several years later Heracles fell in love with Iole, daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia. Deianeira, realizing that Iole was a dangerous rival, sent Heracles, on his way to a gathering, a tunic dipped into the blood of Nessus. As soon as Herakles put it on, his flesh started burning and, in deep pain, he threw himself in a funeral pyre and died. Deianeira killed herself.