Leaving a high-demand religious community dissolves one's interpretive framework, causing profound psychological trauma and pain similar to physical injury.
"The Psychological Horror of Being a 13-Year-Old": Charlie Polinger on The Plague
A 2003-set coming-of-age story about a shy boy at water polo camp confronting a cruel social "plague" that stigmatizes, ostracizes, and spreads paranoia among peers.
Read: Camilla Grudova's Gluttonous Short Story, Glamour Dish
A jailed professor relies entirely on a former assistant to bring him food while the assistant endures social exile and low-paid work after academic ruin.