In my case, even after I stopped attending meetings, my family still had contact with me, though it became stranger and more awkward as the months went by. But it all fell apart rapidly after I missed the DC and my wife went without me (to appease her parents who were in attendance). She was seriously love-bombed, but it didn't work because the "friends" had already shown their true colors and she was beginning to see there was no real love there.
I didn't use the excuse of work or anxiety. I simple refused to go. This was the turning point in my familial contact. All but a couple began shunning me, even threatening to walk out of the room if I were to show up at family events. Mind you, I have yet to be DF'd, DA'd, or even before a committee. They seem to have taken it on themselves to act this way.
The funny part is that I had already (at that time) stopped going to meetings for three years! But the final straw was to miss the DC?
My question: Is there something mystical about the importance of District Conventions to JWs?