CTY Withdrawal

CTY Withdrawal or Post-CTY Depression is a wave of intense sadness felt after leaving CTY, during which many CTYers miss their CTY friends and experiences. Sometimes, this can last for a few days, a few weeks until school starts again, or until one returns to CTY the next year. Cases of CTY Withdrawal are worse for nomores and nevermores. Due to the incident-based nature of CTY Withdrawal, it is likely to be medically accepted as a form of minor depression. It can be contrasted with Pre-CTY Euphoria, or CTY Tail Whip, the intense feeling of anticipation of a CTY session soon to begin.

Symptoms

CTY Withdrawal can lead to crying when hearing American Pie or other Canon songs, talking obsessively about CTY to friends from home (who have no idea what you mean and couldn't care less), and hastily organized end-of-summer reunions. It is also characterized by the feeling that you should have a lanyard around your neck (or waist, or hip, or body part of choice)--in December. It may involve mass-emailing everyone you knew at CTY, fearing that you will lose touch, and planning reunions throughout the year that no one is able to attend. CTY Withdrawal might also cause you to imagine that you see your CTY friends everywhere you go (when actually you're just seeing random people you've never met in stores and on the street) and having dreams involving only CTY people and having them morph into your non-CTY friends (and being incredibly disappointed).

In many cases, one's heart will be slightly broken from the pain they have been put through due to the end of CTY. They will probably regret certain things they did or didn't do, and they won't leave their room for hours on end. Furthermore, Post-CTY Depression (commonly referred to as PCTYD) takes a {very long} time to diminish, as the CTYer is still thinking things over. In many cases, this person will excessively miss their "special someone" from CTY and will be lamenting over the fact that they will either have to wait another year to see this person, or that they'll never meet again. Parents, it is normal if your child is acting withdrawn from "family time" and texts or visits Facebook nonstop. Also, please DON'T blast American Pie in the car as it leads to excessive weeping upon hearing the first note of the song. One should give the CTYer at least four months to heal (depending on the sensitivity of the CTYer, it may take more/less time to heal) completely and be able to listen to CTY songs without sobbing as soon as they hear it.

Other symptoms include:

• Excessive crying (noticeable as one is leaving campus)
• Constant re-checking of text messages
• Joining all CTY-affiliated social media groups
• Excessive social media posting in general
• Spending way too much time on group chats
• Over-playing canon songs including American Pie, Don't Stop Believing, and other canon.
• Constant posting on said friends' walls
• Gushing over photos five months after CTY ended (or excessive commenting)
• Hugging yourself or wishing you had someone to hug
• Randomly wearing your lanyard at times of sudden PCTYD
• Wearing your CTY shirt/shirts for 2+ days straight
• Endlessly looking through old CTY pictures
• Sleeping at 10:30 every night (or rather, not sleeping at 10:30 every night)
• Structuring your day in a way akin to the CTY daily schedule
• Believing you have a lanyard around your neck
• Seeing CTY-related stuff wherever you look, like seeing the word "city" but reading "CTY"
• Eating the same cereal you became used to
• Hanging your room sign outside of your room at your house
• Desperately seeking an assembly belt to put your plate on after dinners
• Running through sprinklers after dances
• Constantly mistaking random people in public places for people from CTY
• Air-raving, or going through the motions of raving without actually having any poi/glowstrings in your hands
• Reaching for a key, key card or fob to open any closed door
• Insomnia or restlessness due to excessive thought about CTY

Other Sorts of Withdrawal

For certain CTYers, Hug Withdrawal occurs as well. Hugs are often given as greetings and, therefore, when leaving CTY, you also leave constant hugs. Symptoms include hugging yourself very, very often. Makeout Withdrawal is also possible.

People who have attended CTY Carlisle and CTY Los Angeles also have Potato Withdrawal and have to deal with the fact that a potato-based dish is no longer served with every meal. Potato Withdrawal has been known to develop into a serious medical condition. Studies have shown that HUB 'taters contain vital nutrients that protect from numerous diseases (including swine flu: R.I.P. CAR.09.1).

Now, as the COVID-19 outbreaks cancelled CTY 2020, there is NCTYD (no CTY depression). This includes not being able to listen to canon without crying, many stages of grief, including denial, and others. NCTYD can have some serious side effects including the loss of sanity, and all other forms of CTY Withdrawal multiplied by 2000.

CTY Nevermore Trauma

CTY Nevermore Trauma, or CTYNT (stylized CTY'NT) is a condition that affects only nevermores, nomores, and their close friends. The term CTYNT was coined by Alex Kim, Gary Lvov, Bryan Zhang and Patrick Yang of CTY Saratoga 19.2. CTY Nevermore Trauma describes an amplified set of symptoms similar to those experienced by PCTYD patients, but often much more extreme and intermittent. Although the term CTYNT implies that the condition only affects Nevermores/Nomores, Onemores who are very good friends with nevermores (especially upcoming royalty who spend significant amounts of time with the Nevermore community) can also be affected. In some extreme cases Onemores may choose to abstain from another year of CTY to symbolically "join" their Nevermore peers.

Acute Symptoms usually last for around 15-25 days after the end of a CTY session. Recovery times vary depending on the individual; their personality, their experiences and their relationships will have an effect on the time it takes for them to recover from acute CTY'NT. The acute symptoms of CTYNT are very severe and extreme; their effects can be violent and akin to those associated with depression.

• Crying at the last dance, especially during American Pie
• Excessive crying and weeping, refusing to leave campus
• Random bursts of sadness, usually accompanied by crying
• Constantly texting next year's royalty
• Wearing all of your lanyards from preceding years
• Attempting to stay up all night
• Questioning the meaning of life, nonstop thought experimentation ("what if I never went to CTY..." etc.)
• Holding plastic spoons everywhere you go
• Convulsions when presented with any CTY-related items
• Playing canon songs nonstop on repeat
• Throwing frisbees to nobody while wearing your TAPS shirt

Chronic Symptoms are much more moderate in their effects, however, the chronic effects last for much longer. The chronic effects of CTYNT last for anywhere between 4 months to several decades. Some symptoms may stay with the CTYer for the rest of their lives.

• Spending way too much time on group chats
• Playing canon songs nonstop
• Structuring your day like a normal CTY day, using the CTY daily schedule times
• Over-playing an entire dance canon playlist
• Raving in your room at home, playing canon rave songs
• Organizing multiple reunions after CTY has ended, year after year (or month after month in some cases)
• Revisiting an active CTY site, despite having aged out of the program
• Spamming the CTY discord with philosophical walls of text, contemplating an existence without CTY.
• Hallucinating, seeing "CTY" all over the place
• Violently convulsing when viewing old photos of CTY sessions; generally accompanied by crying
• Constantly revisiting group chats
• Constantly visiting fellow CTYers who live nearby
• Continuing to use your lanyard for everyday stuff (i.e. Attaching it to your keys, etc.)
• Eating the same cereal you ate at CTY
• Running through sprinklers everywhere
• Visiting CTY sites at other times of the year

As with a lot of Nevermore/existential-crisis associated things, a lot remains to be decided. The above list is a list of symptoms; however, some items may also be interpreted as a way in which CTY changes you. CTY is a very polarizing experience; it shapes you as a person and leaves you with experiences that will stay with you forever. The nostalgia and disbelief that nevermores experience only exacerbates this predicament, and is one of the reasons why this is referred to as a condition.

There is no prescribed treatment for CTYNT; unlike PCTYD, there are no comforting thoughts of a next year at CTY to help relieve the sadness experienced by nevermores. The only way a nevermore moves past this stage is by acknowledging their ineligibility for another session of CTY and moving on, thus completing the transition to a "forevermore."

External Links

Post-CTY Depression, the new website to cure your pctyd

PCTYD Pikachu, a meme developed by CTYers suffering from PCTYD