If someone has doubts and issues and goes off the derech, he/she gets the quick’n’dirty method of testing his/her theories. That will naturally give clarity, in a way.
This compared to people who have doubts and issues, stay the way they are (outwardly, at least), and then have to fight with, to use WIY’s word, their “demons” for the rest of their lives.
I guess that’s the whole Amish rumspringa concept. (Not saying it’s the right solution, but knowing the hard way may, in some strange ways, be better than not knowing at all.)
This from someone who isn’t really very close to OTD people or chozrim beteshuva but is definitely having issues with her own inner demons, so take it with a grain of salt.