I think "waking up" is the perfect phrase to describe leaving the Witnesses. There are different levels of sleep and of waking up. Neither is automatic. We don't just jump out of bed awake and alert, ready to take on the world right when our alarm goes off. Some of us take a while before we realize the alarm is even going off. Some of us hit the snooze button to give ourselves just a little bit more time. Some of turn the alarm off, roll over and go back to sleep.
Likening that analogy to leaving the Witnesses is exactly the same. For some are active Witnesses, every once in a while, a doubt or internal alarm will go off in their head that told them things were not right. They ignore it over and over. Some will give it a little attention, but eventually brush off the doubts and live their JW life in automatic mode. They hit the snooze button every time it comes up. The consequences of shunning is always there to make that snooze button easier to hit.
It takes a while to wake up completely and realize the gravity of what kind of organization many of us were raised in. Even after I faded completely, I was still only half awake. It has taken me years to completely free myself from those old ingrained JW beliefs and thoughts. Ones I didn't even realize I was still holding onto.
Jehovah's Witnesses don't just attract people with emotional and psychological problems. They create them.