I used to be a pretty hardcore drug addict. It's not something I'm proud of, but I think some interesting parallels can be drawn between it and what the topic in this thread has morphed into.
Having been a born-in, I was obviously screwed in the head from a young age, and when I was a teenager, after I left the JW's, I started clinging to whomever would accept my company. In general, drug addicts will consider anyone their friend (as long as they have drugs)--getting high by yourself gets kind of boring, and since many people don't do drugs, your choice of associations can be rather limited. So, bad associations, etc. You've all heard the story a million times. I let myself be led WAY astray. Because normal people didn't really seem to understand the whole JW thing, and I didn't understand normal people.
One thing that was great about being into drugs was all the friends you had, all the comraderie, even if it was kind of twisted. The fact that you could go just about anywhere and kind of know people before you met them--some things are universal, and the habits surrounding drug addiction is one of them. It helped me with my social skills. It taught me marketing skills. It taught me to stand up for myself. But, eventually, I reached a point in my life where I said to myself, "How the hell did I fall so far? I f**cked up my life!" I knew then I had to quit.
I said goodbye to all my addict friends, realizing no matter how much I enjoyed their company, how much I shared in common with them, hanging out with them was destroying me, and watching me destroy myself was destroying those that really loved me.
So I quit using, and although it was very hard at first, it's much better now. I no longer depend on a substances to make me happy; I've found other things to be interested in. I went back to the university, graduated even. I have a decent job now, and my friends, although fewer, aren't "friends". They are friends.
JW's are a lot like a drug addiction. It doesn't really feel that great to get high after you've been doing it for a long time, but the prospect of stopping and facing what you've done to yourself becomes much worse in your mind than to continue. "The Truth" is just as much bullcrap as drugs are, if not more, so if you are thinking of judging me for having been a drug addict, don't.
Would anyone say that a drug addiction is not "wrong" and destructive? To stop smoking, cigarettes or drugs, is good. So is to stop JW'ing.
I guess the biggest difference between JW's and drugs is that when you stop doing drugs, your family is much more likely to accept you than shun you.