Does Making Effigies Affect Sanity?
No, only the actions listed above will directly decrease your sanity stats in The Forest. However, as you need to dismember body parts, gather bones, and often need cannibal heads to create effigies, it is pretty hard to get your hands on the resources required to make an effigy without dismembering limbs and, as a result, losing Sanity. After all, you don't often find severed heads lying around. That being said, it does happen now and again in the crazy world of The Forest.