For individuals who have spent most of their life in constant connection with a collective, being forcibly disconnected can have serious repercussions. This disconnection can come from a variety of sources, such as being ejected due to an imprinted decision or simply moving beyond the range of the kotim's influence. Extended periods without a connection produced similar symptoms as a drug's withdrawal, including the potential of the lack of connection being permanently debilitative, inducing psychosis, or death.
There are many reasons for this, but the primary is that having the connection to the kotim allows for “off-loading” of mental processes. An individual doesn't have to worry about how to do simple math, keep track of time, or even know which way is north if the collective is capable of answering it without any effort. For adults who spent their entire lives in a collective, suddenly no longer being able to remember their past, how to regulate their eating or sleeping, or know anything is devestating.
Withdrawal has a much higher impact on higher vogal generations than on lower, mainly because of the intimate and constant connection to the votim.