Um estudo de 2021, revisado por pares, baseado em entrevistas com seis ex-Testemunhas (Ransom, Monk & Heim, Journal of Religion and Health) relatou que o ostracismo depois da saída 'pode estar associado a uma diminuição da saúde mental', que os participantes compararam a perda da família e dos amigos ao luto por pessoas vivas, que um participante relatou duas tentativas de suicídio e outro, comportamento autodestrutivo, e que um deles descreveu o suicídio de um filho depois de ele ter sido desassociado.

Journal of Religion and Health, 61(3): 2458-2480 (online 19 Jan 2021; issue June 2022), “Grieving the Living: The Social Death of Former Jehovah’s Witnesses”

19 de janeiro de 2021 · pp.2458-2480 · Abstract; Results · Heather J. Ransom; Rebecca L. Monk; Derek Heim · Springer (open access, CC BY)

“Narratives suggest that experiences of ostracism following religious exit can be associated with diminished mental health, while having a sense of agency and establishing new (online) social connections may help mitigate adverse consequences.”

Six former JWs in the UK (aged 25 to 60s; disfellowshipped or disassociated), semi-structured interviews analysed with interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: 'the sudden loss of contact with loved [ones] was akin to grieving their living friends and family'; one participant reported two suicide attempts, another self-destructive behaviour, and a third described her son’s suicide after he was disfellowshipped and one a son's suicide after disfellowshipping; 'the indication is that being disfellowshipped may potentially have serious implications to physical and mental health'.

Fonte oficial ↗ (abre em nova aba) Digitalização do original ↗ (abre em nova aba)