The Pepperbox
May
BOX BRIEFS May 25th: Staff development - No School May 28th: Memorial Day - No School May 29th: Powderpuff Game June 1st: Armack Spring Concert June 2nd: SAT Testing @ EHS June 6th: Senior Awards June 9th: ACT Testing @ EHS June 11 - 13th: Finals Week
June 14th: Last day of School June 14th: Yearbook Signing Day June 14th: Half day June 14th: AHS Graduation June 14th: MHS Graduation June 14th: End of Semester 2 June 14th: End of School Year June 14th: ACT Testing @ EHS
IN THE BOX Alcohol Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . 3. “Kill Me�/Text v. Call . . . . . . . . . 3. Food/Veganism . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Munchie Alternatives . . . . . . . .5. . Sex! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 UTI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
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EDITORIAL STAFF
Wrestling Weight Loss . . . . . . .10 A Health Convo . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Heroin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Health Through Art . . . . . . . . . 13 .
Marley Tavernier-Fine Editor-in-Chief
Lilly Raschein A&E Editor
Guest writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Peter Shao Editor-in-Chief
Marlie Thornburgh A&E Editor
Depression and Anxiety . . . . . .15
Jacquelyn Opalach Feature Editor
Cassie Flint Photo Editor
Chloe Stemler News Editor
Zara Elloway Opinion Editor
Fiona Murphy News Editor
Rachel White Online Editor
Riley Martel-Phillips Sports Editor
Noah Thorwaldson Food/Online Editor
REPORTERS/STAFF Drie Lynn Roberts Business Manager Riley Martel-Phillips Junior Business Manager Jazmine Fiedler Art Director
Reporters: Haley Hill, Hannah Pereira, Brandon Taylor, Jordan Viera, Jeremiah Ownbey, Parker Gray, Sam Steinbach, Lindsay Rimmer, James Manion, Isabel Luu, MacKenzie Ridgwood, Ursula Reynolds
The Pepperbox would like to thank Western Web, based in Samoa, for printing at-cost. Western Web supports student journalism throughout Humboldt County and has made publications like the Pepperbox possible for decades. We appreciate their dedication to Western Web keeping print media alive.
Questions regarding editorial content of the Pepperbox should be directed towards its editors. Opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of Arcata High School.
Advisor Danielle Witten
The Pepperbox | Page 3
Social
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Alcohol poisoning: The dos and don’ts News Editor
21%
Of high school students binge drank within the past 30 days
1 in 6
% Past-month alcohol, cigarette, or marijuana use
90%
Of alcohol consumed by teens is during binge drinking.
• • • • • •
• •
Teens binge drink
What to do:
Tips:
• Call 911, it’s better to get in trouble than to have a dead friend • Try to get them to drink water, hydration is key. • If they passed out lay them on their side, this will help keep them from choking if they throw up • Make sure they are breathing, duh • Keep them warm • Stay with them
• Don’t make them throw up. This actually raises the chance of choking • Stay with them • Don’t let them sleep it off, again, this raises the chance of choking • Don’t let them drink more • Don’t give them a cold shower, this can lead to hypothermia • Don’t give them coffee, this will dehydrate them • Don’t let them walk around
Symptoms:
Fiona Murphy
•
Passed out Confused Vomiting Seizures Slow breathing (less than eight breaths a minute) Irregular breathing (a gap of more than 10 seconds between breaths) Blue-tinged or pale skin. Low body temperature (hypothermia) Loss of coordination
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 2015
“Kill me” controversy Text v. call Haley Hill Reporter
T
here are many reasons to be stressed out or upset in our small community at Arcata High. If you’re an upperclassman, you could be worrying about your college major and the great unknown that is adulthood. In general, many of us have been preoccupied with AP tests, which are renowned for their ability to drain students of their usual youthful joy. In response to these tiring endeavors or to issues outside of school, phrases such as “Kill me” and “I want to die” have been thrown around carelessly without any forethought. We have normalized these phrases, and are undermining the significance of mental illness. I understand that our teenage angst needs to be expressed somehow, and
complaining about life problems can be cathartic. However, joking about suicide shouldn’t be the way to do it.
Here are some simple alternatives for when you’re in a stressful situation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
F**********ck Save me This sucks I don’t want to do this I AM UPSET I wish I could hibernate until June 14 7. Frick on a stick 8. agh. 9. oh no. 10. Diddly darn 11. OOOOOH BOOOOY 12. Whoops 13. Ah 14. Forketh
MacKenzie Ridgwood Reporter
T
exting is quick and easy and for that I like it, but if I actually want to say something, texting sucks. Emojis and memes can help us convey our emotions, yet I still find myself reading and rereading messages over and over trying to figure out what they mean. Not what they say, but what the underlying message or tone is. It’s easy to send a message thinking that I have said exactly what I needed to say and that the recipient will not be offended, but then I get a text back and it occurs to me that I have made a mistake. I said exactly what I wanted, but how they interpreted it gave it a completely different tone. So I find myself in a place where I can either try to explain myself more over text, which can take forever and become confusing because of careful phrasing where my meaning gets lost, or try and call them to explain myself.
I find myself sitting and thinking and then texting the person my thoughts without refining them. Can we all just try and call each other or meet up in person if something is important? Calling people should be more normalized. So let’s try and do that. Calling is good no matter what you talk about. You get to talk to the person in real time and there are no message crossovers. Over the phone there are less misunderstandings and you don’t spend an hour figuring out what to say; that’s not to say that you can’t spend multiple hours just chatting on the phone. If you need an answer people are more likely to talk to you straight and without a filter, instead of seeing your message, ignoring it, and getting back to you later. That’s the other thing, if you send a big beefy message with multiple points and questions, I find that people tend to skip over the things you really wanted to hear a response to. On the phone these problems are non-existent. Talking on the phone is fun, easier, and really solves all the problems with texting.
The Pepperbox | Page 4
Diet
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Veganism: Is it always healthy? Lilly Raschein A & E Editor
V
eganism has recently become a diet many follow due to the increasing awareness of climate change and general abusive ways in which animals are treated. Veganism though has especially caused controversy on whether it is healthy for teens to pursue the lifestyle. Mona Brown a varsity athlete and senior found the transition to be easy and enjoyed some extra benefits, “I did notice when I cut
out both meat and dairy I felt like I had more energy and my mind felt clearer,” she said. Abby Daniels, another vegan who enjoys an active lifestyle found that she too has had positive health changes since becoming vegan, “I’ve also noticed that my acne has seriously cleared up since going vegan,” she stated. The biggest controversy in becoming vegan generally revolves around the idea of not getting enough protein. According to science, certain plant-based foods can carry more protein than meat. These foods like soybeans, chickpeas, and hemp seeds carry as much protein as meat.
America generally has a culture that revolves around meat, according to the US Department of Agriculture it’s estimated that the average American will eat 222.2 pounds of meat this year in 2018. This number is illustrated more in the fact that the department advises to eat 5 ounces of protein daily while the average American will eat 10 ounces of meat and poultry in 2018. Mona observes this in our culture predominantly, ”Looking back in time people raised their own animals for meat and had an understanding of their life and its ending and were thankful for the sacrifice it took to live.
Now it’s a desensitized commodity,” she stated. Both girls found that living without meat is easier than most expect. Abby discovered that being educated on the lifestyle helped her transfer into it. “Documentaries were a really essential tool for me. I 100% recommend that people watch the film What the Health because this had the biggest influence on me,” she offered. Veganism and its benefits hold much controversy, but if done right as shown by these two Arcata High students, it can lead to a beneficial lifestyle. So be curious and educate yourself, you might end up surprised by what you find.
PBX’s (un)healthy eating habits Marley Tavernier-Fine Editor-in-Chief
F
rom parents to teachers to Michelle Obama, it seems like kids these days are pushed and pushed to “eat their greens,” “drink their milk,” and most of all, avoid “junk food.” And when younguns are under the watchful eyes of adults, those ideals seem possible. However, when the young leave the nest, whether unsupervised in high school or off to live alone at college, the change in eating habits is often for the worse. The Pepperbox editorial staff is a prime example of unhealthy habits, spurred on by stress, long hours in front of a computer, and the classic “work for a reward” ideology. One page of the paper laid out? Time for a run to the Co-op for Newman O’s, our indulgence of choice. “One time, I came for a work party without having breakfast, so I just had Newman O’s for breakfast. And lunch,” explained
News Editor Fiona Murphy. Some other favorites include Ben and Jerry’s, organic cheese puffs, Alexandre’s Family Farm milk, Sour Patch Kids, Werther’s Originals, microwave popcorn, and Esteban’s tortillas, just to name a few. But for this issue (health), the staff is experimenting with a different nutritional route: fresh fruits and vegetables, and the occasional fresh-baked cookie. Although our natural tendencies tell us that we need junk food to keep our motivation strong and our spirits high, there are alternatives. One trick is to learn from one of the inspirational, fitness-conscious students at our school, who offer a wealth of health knowledge. Senior Naomi Solomon is a prime example of how to eat healthy as a stressed-out high-schooler. Since her parents own Japhy's Soup & Noodles, she was born to become a healthy-food connoisseur. “My parents always tried to make dinner as healthy as possible, and introduce me to a healthy relation-
ship with fruits and vegetables growing up,” Naomi explained. As a denizen of the digital age, she has also taken to Instagram to share her daily drool-worthy delicacies, and her page, @naomiskitchen is her platform. On top of running @naomiskitchen, she also is one of the founding members of Fitness Club. “Fitness club is a very small club, but we have fun, and we like to talk about things related to health and fitness, without an emphasis on weight loss or weight gain or really anything to do with weight, because that’s just not the most important part of fitness.” Naomi stated. It’s good to know that health-conscious teens really do exist, even if the Pepperbox staff doesn’t always fit into that category. The amount of Newman O’s and cheese puffs we consume may have to be reduced, but we can keep them in our “productivity” diet. As long as we eat a vegetable now and then, we should live to print another issue.
Marley Tavernier-Fine/PEPPERBOX
Naomi and a Japhy’s salad.
The Pepperbox | Page 5
Diet
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Munchies and their healthy counterparts W
Parker Gray Reporter
hat defines a snack? Junior Brian Ford replied with a wink, ¨Me.¨ After clearly defining that I was talking about food he said, ¨Something that holds over your appetite.¨ Dictionary.com defines it as ¨a small amount of food eaten between meals¨. The problem with these definition happens when you eat a ¨snack food¨ for an entire meal. This is something that most teenager do on the regular, and something I have been an expert at my entire life. My elementary school lunches consisted of a sandwich, which largely went uneaten, and then the holy grail of junk food: Nutter Butters, Zebra Cakes, Gushers, Scooby-Doo fruit snacks, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, chips, honey buns, Fruit Roll-Ups, and probably any other food you tried to trade your cashews for at the lunch table. As these child dream lunches faded into middles school I took a knack to eating entire bags of chips for a meal. Through my adventures of snackville I have compiled a list of supposedly ¨unhealthy¨ snack foods and their ¨healthy¨ counterparts. **Disclaimer anything can be bad for you if you overindulge even essential substances such as water. Choose your foods based on a balance of what is healthy, and what makes you happy; both are important.
Healthy Snacks Dehydrated Apples
vs
“Unhealthy Snacks” Apple Jack Cereal
Pita Bread with Hummus & Roasted Garlic
Pizza
Lettuce Wrap
Hamburger
Peanut Butter & Crackers
Oreos
Nothing Because Krave is Irreplaceable
Krave
Wasabi Peas
Caramel Corn
Artichokes
Pringles
Fresh Berries
Sour Patch Kids
Greek Yogurt
Snack Pack Pudding
Sweet Potato Fries
French Fries
Frozen Grapes
Skittles
Toast with Dusting of Cinnamon & Sugar
Donut
Carbonated Water with Lemon Juice
Soda
Fruit Smoothie
Ice Cream
Granola Bar
Rice Krispie CIRCLE THE WINNER WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Sexual
The Pepperbox | Page 6
Let’s talk about sex, AHS MacKenzie Ridgwood Reporter
D
espite the many lessons we’ve all had about how abstinence is the way to go, some teenagers choose to remain sexually active because of their urges. But along with the sexy things, there are definitely some things you need to think about. Pregnancy and STDs, and are among the most important. You know one thing that will surely have no adverse side effects? Masturbation. Number one: you are always there for yourself. Number two: pleasuring yourself is quite empowering because you don’t need anyone else to feel good. But sometimes getting off given what you possess naturally is difficult, speaking of… MASTURBATION. Yay! So that’s a fun thing that isn’t really talked about with teenagers. But let’s talk about it for a second. If we aren’t supposed to be having sex, why aren’t they just telling us about mas-
turbation so we can go on our pleasure pursuits by ourselves? Doing sexy things with someone is good and all, but what if you could get your whole procedure down with yourself before you did it with someone else? What if you already knew some things you liked and some things you didn’t? That’d be pretty cool. But since self pleasure is not marketed to anyone under 18, I refer back to what I said earlier, urges. Since there are risks involved in participation in the old hanky panky, there are some things that need to go down, before you get down. Number one is consent. Consent is a must. If all people involved in this pleasure pursuit are not giving a “Hell yeah” response, then nothing’s going to be happening, but if they have given their verbal consent then it’s time to jump in. BUT WAIT! Where is the con-
dom? This is quite the predicament that many have found themselves in before. Don’t just go along without your little rubber friend, unless of course you and your partner have both been tested and are aware of all of the risks that come with having unprotected sex. WE’RE GAY, WE DON’T NEED PROTECTION! Nope, you still need something there my friend. You won’t get pregnant, but STDs are spread if you don’t use a condom or dental dam. Condoms have a couple uses actually, in fact they can be used as dental dams if there are none available. Considering dental dams are not really widely known about and condoms seem to be everywhere, you can easily use a condom as a dental dam. To do so, all you need to do is cut the tip off the condom and then cut it down the middle. These barriers should also be used every time you use something you are go-
ing to put in your vagina or on your penis. For instance; when using a dildo or vibrator, especially when you will be using it with someone else. Since these urges can also result in pregnancy, lots of people are on birth control. Birth control can also be used for cramps and period regulation. According to the Planned Parenthood website, a great way to make sure STDs aren’t spread and no one will get pregnant, “Sticking to sexual activities that don’t spread STDs — like outercourse or mutual masturbation (masturbating while with each other),” is the way to go. They also say that, “if you’re taking off underwear and touching each other or having any kind of sex, using barriers is the safer way to go.” Now that you are equipped with this information, keep it in mind when going about all your future endeavors.
Drawings courtesy of Isabel Terra
Sexual
Thursday, May 24, 2018
The Pepperbox | Page 7
UTI gone wrong: What not to do U
Cassie Flint Photo Editor
How did get your first UTI? Kira: I think I got it because I didn’t pee after having sex. How did you respond? Kira: I went to the doctor and they gave me antibiotics. What did the doctor say to do? Kira: They told me to take three antibiotics everyday for 7 days, but I only did the first four days. Why? Kira: Because my symptoms went away so I thought the UTI went away too. Were there any effects of not finishing the antibiotics?
rinary Tract Infections (UTIs), are a seldom-talked-about plague that occurs in the bladder, kidneys, or urethra. Both guys and girls can get UTIs even though they are much more common for females because they have shorter urethras. UTI’s are bacterial infections, which can be caused by wiping the wrong way, eating too much sugar, holding your pee for too long, and not peeing after sex. They are usually treated by antibiotics. These infections are often regarded as a major annoyance, and one that can be ignored or easily treated, but the consequences of getting a UTI can be severe. Senior Kira O’Brien knows all too well the problems that result in not treating a UTI properly. Kira: Well two weeks later it came back and I didn’t go to the doctor but finished the rest of my antibiotics from the first time. Again it felt like that solved the problem. What happened to you next? Kira: I was on an airplane going to Hawaii and my back started to hurt like it never hurt before. I had the worst stomach cramps of my entire life. The whole time I was shaking and had hot and cold flashes, which were the worst part. Did you do anything to get help? Kira: No, I thought the pain on the airplane was just from menstruat-
ing, but two days into Hawaii more symptoms were happening. I was getting feveral seizures, the stomach and back pain became unbearable, and I was freezing laying on the beach in 80 degree weather. I went to a resort’s urgent care because it was getting bad. What did the resort doctors do? Kira: I had to pee in a cup for starters. Then they tested my pee and I still had a UTI, obviously, but it had spread to my kidneys. The doctors told me that was very dangerous because I could’ve died if I waited longer. They gave me a huge peni-
1644 G St, Arcata, CA 95521 (707) 822 1965
cillin shot in the booty-- worst shot of my life-- and gave me stronger antibiotics. What was the worst part? Kira: I had to deal with the worst of it in Hawaii and the new antibiotics were sun sensitive and caused me to have no appetite. Also the shot bruised my butt and I couldn't sit comfortably. What have you learned? Kira: I learned not to be a f***ing idiot and listen to doctors because they know their s***. Advice? Kira: After you mate, urinate.
SPRING WEEK PROFILES P O W D E R P U F F
Finn-isher a.k.a. Finnley Bourne
The Coach a.k.a. Austin Kadle HEIGHT:
“Impressive.” Favorite part of powderpuff: “There can only be one winner. Let’s go!” Advice for players: “Get behind a tree.” Predictions: “Winner winner chicken dinner.” Coaching strategy: “Not show up and win.”
P O W D E R P U F F
HEIGHT:
C H E E R
4’23.999’’ Position: “I’m all about that base.” Expectations: “Get out there and just cheer on the team and invoke a sense of enthusiasm and bring energy to the audience and players through scandalous clothes and provocative moves.” How are you going to prepare for the game?: “I’m going to saturate my cells with unhealthy doses of electrolytes and make sure my muscles are tight.”
C O A C H
P O W D E R P U F F
Bobby Shmurda a.k.a. Milo Weller HEIGHT:
6’ 17”
B U F F S T U F F
P L A Y E R
NUG$
a.k.a. Karina Zumbrun
HEIGHT:
5’ 5”
Position: “Defense: Safety” Prior Experience: “Not really, just throwing it [the football] with my dad.” Expectations: “I’m a pretty aggressive person, so I think that part will be fun. I’m on the swim team, and I’m also a soccer player, so I’ve played sweeper for soccer, which is kinda the same thing as safety in football, so I’m hoping that will be helpful.” Pre-Game: “Julia and I are going to listen to some Cardi B.”
P L A Y E R
What were your expectations for the game: “I wanted to win.” How did you prepare for the game: “I drank a lot of Powerade.” What was the weakest part of your team: “Quin Parker.” How would you describe how you felt after the win in one word: “Like a winner.” What was your favorite part of playing: “Winning was pretty fun. Also the part where we didn’t lose.”
The Pepperbox | Page 10
Physical
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Cutting weight: From swoll to smol Lindsay Rimmer Reporter
Jeremiah Ownbey Reporter
“Wrestling will cause you to find strange solutions to unusual problems.” -Jeremiah Ownbey
N
othing is more rewarding than your own hard work. As a student athlete, it's an amazing feeling to be great at your sport(s). For wrestlers, the benefit gained can mean more. Wrestling at Arcata High means a serious exercise, all-day tournaments, and a sense of family. One of the team captains, Nick Borden, said that one of his favorite aspects of this winter
sport is the work put into it. Cutting weight is the opposite of bulking up. Athletes in wrestling often do this to fit into a lower weight class. Lower weight classes plus more muscle and experience leads to more pins, wins, and medals. If done right, cutting weight usually isn't a problem. If done wrong, however, it could mean consequences. Team co-captain Nick Borden knows more than anyone the consequences of cutting weight incorrectly. ¨The key to cutting weight is to change your eating habits instead of not eating all together.” A wrestler’s diet should be high in protein and low in carbs. When it comes to carbohydrates in their diet, complex carbs are better than simple ones. Dori DeNisi proclaimed, “Vegetables are free cal-
Lindsay Rimmer/PEPPERBOX
Some Arcata High wrestlers show off their moves. ories. You can eat as many as you want.” By having a balanced diet consisting of fruits and vegetables, protein, and vitamins and minerals, the first step to cutting weight is done. Another tactic to losing weight would be controlling water weight. Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon. 70% of the human body is water, and one common mistake is cutting down on water intake. This is one of the worst mistakes you can make, because when your body isn't hydrated, you don't perform your best. In certain situations, wrestlers will turn to spitting the weight off, and others turn to sweating it off. Maeve Moore recalled, “Before one tournament, I spit so much that I dropped from 138 to 131.” McKinleyville wrestler Ayden Romero states, “I'm going to turn on the space heater and hit the elliptical with sweats and two hoodies.” Jeremiah Ownbey recalled a personal experience. “One day I thought I was wrestling 145’s [weight class] and I was 149, so I thought four pounds easy, I can cut that in 30 minutes. But then my coach said, ‘No you’re wrestling 138’s’. That meant I needed to cut 11 pounds… that's rough.
So I wrapped trash bags around my legs and put one on as a shirt, then I put on two pairs of sweats, a shirt, two sweatshirts, a beanie, and some thick socks. I ran end to end of McKinleyville until the weight was gone, that sucked.” These tactics are okay, but can dehydrate the body quickly. Staying hydrated is the most simple way to cut weight correctly. Overall, the body knows what it needs best. When cutting weight listen to your body. No one is making you lose weight, it's totally voluntary. This is the most important thing to remember. Cut weight right, and over time. Don't expect to lose weight at the drop of a hat. And always remember, “Don't let your dreams be dreams!” -Shia LaBeouf.
Vegetables are free calories. You can eat as many as you want. -Dori DeNisi
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Physical
The Pepperbox | Page 11
Failures of modern medicine Lilly Raschein A & E Editor
Fiona Murphy News Editor
D
octors often seem like they have all the answers. You have a stomach ache, they have an answer, you have a broken bone, they can fix it. But sometimes, doctors don’t have the answers; instead you are sent over and over through the process of seeing a doctor, explaining the issue, and getting poked and prodded with no progress. Two of us here at Pepperbox have been going through this and now we want to tell everyone how exhausting it is. Fiona has had chronic headaches for about three years and started going to doctors about them last year when they started getting worse. Since then she has had no progress with treatment and they have progressed to include nausea and sometimes whole body pain. She has missed about 30 days of school this semester. Lilly has had general back pain for about two years, this beginning in the second season she did crew. After doctor visits, X-rays, and months of physical therapy, she
had to quit crew. To her pain has become normalized and only flares up when any physical activity is attempted. Doctors seem flummoxed and generally say, “You’re tall with a long torso, back pain comes with it.”
L: I've had so many diagnosis. I've had people tell me vertebrae popped out, my core has been too strong for my back, they thought I had slight scoliosis, and then that diagnosis doesn’t work and it sucks. It's so defeating, and I might as well give up. F: It’s a waiting game where it just keeps getting worse. I just keep missing school. L: I feel bad when I'm that person that has to say ‘sorry guys, I just can't do that right now. F: I do that all the time, and it just happened the other day at my friends birthday. I just had to say I can't do this, I couldn't I was so nauseous. More and more it’s wrapping itself into my life. L: And we both had the thing where we had to quit crew, something we love. F: Yeah the other day, I had an acupuncture appointment, and I stopped at the boathouse and
5648, 1603 G STREET (707) 633 - 6187
said hi to Amanda (our old crew coach) and I got so sad, I felt so defeated. L: I was depressed for two months after I quit. It sucks. F: After something big happens I spend that night thinking ‘I should have been there.’ F: Also the treatments I've done are so weird. L: Yeah, it is strange because you start with the normal doctors and then you go to more holistic things. I was doing cranial sacral, and I don't know how to describe it. It felt weird. F: Yeah, they just kinda touch your forehead. L: And you start to get such weird opinions, like one I got was
that I was shaped a certain way in my mother's womb and it's going to affect me for the rest of my life. F: People also think you're going to grow out of it. They say that this is a thing for teenagers. Well then can it come later? Because in my teenage life I shouldn't be confined to my room. L: Yeah that thought process, I've had people say oh you're growing through a growth spurt. I just look at them and say I’m 5’9” I stopped growing in 7th grade, that’s not what is wrong with me. F: And having your own opinions and you feel like you can’t have them because you're not a professional.
The Pepperbox | Page 12
Drug
Thursday, May 24, 2018
A true story of addiction Jacquelyn Opalach
“I
Feature Editor
believe that addiction is a disease of separation. When [addicts] use, we’re looking to feel connected, and that’s what drugs and alcohol did for me. The irony of it all is that eventually they separated me completely from everything that I ever loved.” Summer* started drinking as a freshman in high school. Detached from everyone and everything in her life, she turned to alcohol to relieve the strains of being different. “I compared what I was feeling on the inside to what I saw on people’s outsides, and I just felt like I didn’t add up. I was just shy, awkward, totally insecure, and when I drank that went away,” she said. Summer was hooked. She regularly drank throughout high school, and as a result, she didn’t graduate. Months of daily drinking became years of living with untreated alcoholism. Summer’s addiction drove her to rehab again and again over the years, but it never worked; after 30 or 60 days, she always came out only to pick up another drink. “I was sick all the time, and I blacked out, and I couldn’t remember things,” she said. “I couldn’t stop, it was amazing. I wanted to stop so badly. But I couldn’t, I just couldn’t. I was driven.” After 10 years, the cure to separation that alcohol had once provided for her stopped working. Summer divorced and soon after started dating a man who used heroin. She tried it. “It did what alcohol had done all those years before,” she explained. “It made me feel okay with myself.” It wasn’t long before Summer was addicted, but despite the re-
lief that heroin gave her, she never wanted to be dependent on it. “Obviously it feels good,” she said. “But the regret and the remorse that come with it immediately outweighs it. And so you use more to make yourself feel a little bit better.” Summer lost partial custody of her kids a year after her divorce. “I had been their primary caregiver, I had been with them every day of their lives, and they were everything to me. They still are everything to me,” she said. “And that drug, it became more important than them.” It was two years before she was able to contact her kids again. Summer had access to heroin for a year without many consequences. She dated a man with money, and then one who dealt heroin. But it didn’t take long for the habit to catch up with her.
It was the only thing that I could think about, using heroin. Making sure I had enough heroin for the next day. I did crazy things. - Summer Heroin addicts spend about 80 dollars a day on the drug; a massive amount compared to the 16 to 20 dollars severe alcoholics spend daily. Summer eventually lost her house, she simply didn’t have enough money for it and her addiction.“You have a habit that’s
that expensive and you can’t keep a job,” she said. “You end up getting in trouble for the way that you have to make money.” She
I was miserable, and I just had to keep using to cover up the feelings. - Summer had developed a connection to the criminal underworld in order to maintain her access to heroin. It became Summer’s entire life. “It was the only thing that I could think about, using heroin. Making sure I had enough heroin for the next day. I did crazy things,” she noted. Over the five years that her addiction lasted, Summer returned to jail a number of times on a number of charges, including gun charges, prostitution charges, and theft charges; all in effort to earn more money for heroin. “Once I got in trouble I was in the system. So I just continued to get in trouble,” she said. “They knew. They had my number, they knew I was an addict, they knew I was here.” Rather than going to prison, Summer was sent to Drug Court, a system where she was required to visit a judge and probation officer weekly. Although Drug Court is an 18-month program, it took Summer four years to complete it, because of multiple relapses. Summer was homeless for two years, and spent the majority of that time in jail. When she was out on the streets of Eureka, she started to use meth to stay awake because she had nowhere to sleep. “I was miserable, and I just
had to keep using to cover up the feelings,” Summer said. “I was so trapped, I can’t even explain to you how trapped I was by alcohol and drugs. I just felt like I had no choice in the matter.” Summer’s last day in jail was May 23, 2013. Her probation officer knew she needed a fresh start, and begged her parents to let her live in their backyard in Trinidad. Summer has been clean ever since. For Summer, a few factors helped her gain sobriety. “The relief of just being out of Eureka was huge. There were so many triggers in Eureka. There are so many people out on the street that are loaded,” she said. In addition to escaping Eureka, Summer also started working the 12-Step Program and became a member of AA and NA. She started to exercise, and her doctor prescribed Suboxone, an opiate dependence treatment, to help her stop craving heroin. The 12-step program is ultimately what broke Summer’s psychological dependence on heroin and alcohol. “Finally, after all of those years of struggling to find a connection, feeling different from and separate from other people, the 12 steps gave me that connection to a power greater than myself,” she explained. “And because of that, I don’t have to drink and use anymore.” Today Summer is happily married. Her kids, who have walked the halls of Arcata High, see her regularly. This month, Summer will celebrate five years of sobriety. “I just got lucky, I think. There was grace involved. I didn’t necessarily earn it, but somehow I was safe. I want my message to be one of hope.” *This person’s name has been changed to protect their privacy.
The Pepperbox | Page 13
Mental
Thursday, May 24, 2018
What does art do for your mental health? “Art helps me express things that I am not willing to express with people personally. If I draw something or paint it or sculpt it, I can really realize what I’m thinking, or I can model it down to a single feeling. It helps me look at the world differently. “ - Melea Vaughan-Fowler
Finnley Bourne
“I feel like art helps my mental health because it really lets me put my thoughts and things that are harder for me to verbalize into things I create. I can just throw my ideas onto something.” -Stella Joy
“Art is a release valve in my life because it allows me to channel my builtup anguish into my art through emotional and physical means.” -Finnley Bourne
Stella Joy
“I would say that when I’m feeling stressed out, or I just need to calm down then doing art and sort of being in my own world kind of helps me ground myself.” -Alex Diers Parker
“Art lets your mind. Be free.” -Gwen MaIntosh “I just love expressing how I feel, and what I love in my life.” -Marissa Mendosa Marissa Mendosa
“I believe that doing art amplifies a peaceful state of mind.” -Elijah Smith
“It’s a nice outlet for if you have things you need to get out in a physical manner.” -Ruby Langdon “I don’t really think in words, I think in images more. So it’s a lot easier for me to draw or paint what I’m thinking than it is to explain it. It just works better to get my thoughts out of my head. Trying to say or do something and it’s not coming out properly, I just get really frustrated because there are too many thoughts. Art is a good way to get the thoughts out of my brain.” - Taria Ross
Elijah Smith
Gwen McIntosh
The Pepperbox | Page 14
Mental
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Fighting depression one day at a time It is an invisible reality that many teens struggle with depression. In publishing this account, we hope that people suffering will know that they are not alone, while others gain a better understanding of the challenges that their peers may face.
Anonymous
I
Guest Writer
’ve been cutting myself for over four years now. First on my wrists with an old knife, then on my thighs with a new one. I didn’t do it for attention, I didn’t do it because I wanted to die, I did it because I wanted some physical pain to combat the discomfort that was not tangible. I’ve been trying to combat depression for as long as I can remember. I’ve tried all the “cures”: exercise, vitamin D, antidepressants, but the most effective thing was cutting. I had no idea why until about a month ago, turns out when your body gets hurt it releases endorphins to calm you, so when I would drag my knife across my skin I’d feel this overpowering sigh of relief. I finally felt something. Eventually, though, it stopped working. I guess my brain figured out the trick I was playing on it. So I stopped for about five months. I had only told two people about it; someone I trusted, and someone who saw the scars. I lead them to believe it was thanks to them that I was doing better. But in reality I was doing worse than ever before, without an outlet I started having suicidal thoughts constantly. My obsession with death had begun. I would hope for a reckless driver to run me over every time I crossed a street, I’d dream of drowning, or of being shot. I started distancing myself from people. I stopped telling people I cared for that I cared for them. I thought it would help them deal with my death easier. And then I planned the day I’d finally be released. I drew a bath and turned on some of the
most emo music I could think of. I ripped apart a shaving razor and extracted the blades from inside. I lit a candle and laid in the hot water and played with the bubbles. Then I picked up the weapon started to dig the cold metal into my skin. I’d never cut with anything as sharp as a razor before so the blood came much faster than I was used to. Time passed and I wasn’t even phased. I was content with the decision I had made and I continued on until I reached the crook of my elbow, where I cut and no blood flowed. I cut deeper. Again and again hoping to see the blood gush out at any moment. Now, at this point I was bawling, uncontrollably, and I was in a different state of mind than I’d ever been before. I thought I had died. I thought my heart had stopped pumping blood and that’s why I wasn’t bleeding. I frantically got to my phone and called my closest friend and the phone kept ringing. I was scared. I wasn’t so sure about wanting to die anymore, but I thought I was close to being dead. I hung up on my friend’s voice mail and dialed 911 and when they picked up, a kind voiced woman asked me too many questions. I was struggling saying anything and that frustration filled me with rage. I paced around my house while the woman on the phone asked me question after question. Soon enough I heard sirens. The police arrived at my house and I stepped out the front door. They questioned me more and wrapped up my arm as we waited
I’ve been trying to combat depression for as long as I can remember.
WARNING: This account contains sensitive and graphic material. Read with caution.
for the ambulance. Once I was in the ambulance I finally got one of my friends to answer the phone and that is something I’m so grateful for. Once I got to the hospital they wouldn’t let me make calls and they took my phone away from me. I sat in the emergency room waiting for triage to run its course. Everyone seemed rude and distant towards me. They were all judging me and talking about me like I couldn’t hear them. Finally I was treated and got to go home. None of that experience made me want to be alive, in fact, it all made me wish I had died. That night some of my friends came over, after my parents had lectured me a bit. Everything was awkward. I distanced myself from people even more after that and I think people started distancing themselves from me too. Every day just got sadder and sadder. That’s where I am today, two months later. Of course not every second is sad, I still have fun and can be happy, but when I’m alone I start to fall apart. I know people notice my arms, I know more people know than I told, I know a lot of people can’t relate. That’s okay though. The worst part is the awkwardness. But the best part is being able to help other people. I hope this helped you, either as an outsider or as someone suffering through what I’ve experienced. If you know me I love you and I care a lot about you, and I hope I’ll stop distancing myself from you soon.
I did it because I wanted some physical pain to combat the discomfort that was not tangible.
If you know who I am, I love you and I care a lot about you.
National suicide prevention lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 Available 24 hours every day
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Mental
The Pepperbox | Page 15
Mental health issues increasing in teens Fiona Murphy News Editor
E
lizabeth Sloan-Rouse is a Sophomore at Arcata High. Looking at her, a bright and bubbly AAI student and dancer, one would not guess she suffers from anxiety. “It has affected a lot of my decision making [...] it usually pops up with simple stuff like deciding if I’m going to a friend’s house or not. Every once-in-awhile it gets really intense and feels like it’s the biggest decision in the world even when I know it’s not really important.” Elizabeth is one of many students at AHS and around the world battling with an all-too-common problem.
I can definitely see a change[…] as far as anxiety and depression in students. - Eileen Klima Mental illness in teenagers, especially anxiety, has been on the rise. According to Arcata High School guidance counselor Eileen Klima, suicide has gone from the number three to the number two cause of death for teenagers. “I can definitely see a change[…] as far as anxiety and depression in students,” stated Klima, who has worked in schools for 25 years. Some experts believe that phones are to blame; the constant connection to everything, while helpful, can be a curse. “The information gets [circu-
lated] so quickly,” Klima said, “There’s not time to process.” There is no escape from all the pain in the world; teenagers are now bombarded with a wave of problems all at once, instead of a slow trickle like their parents had as teenagers. Not only do phones display instant news, they also present a constant flow of people for teens to compare themselves to. “Because social media show a lot of perfect and ideal ways of being, it makes people feel like they’re not good enough, and I think that really increases anxiety,” Elizabeth told me. Besides the pressure caused by phones, school also adds to the stress and creates an even more volatile environment. School is seen as a major cause of anxiety and depression. The pressure to take advanced classes and to get into dream colleges is utterly overwhelming. With college acceptance rates for top schools such as Stanford plummeting, there is an extreme pressure to be perfect. “I think that there is a lot more pressure from parents that grew up in a time where school wasn’t as hard or as hard in the same way. I think there is a lot more pressure, about everything. Because we are supposed to be the smart generation,” stated Nicole Pastori, an Arcata High Sophomore, in response to a question about the causes of her anxiety. Many students compare themselves to others in an attempt to measure their worth. Combined with bullying, hospitalization rates for attempted suicide in teens spikes when the
school year starts. Despite these growing numbers, there is still a stigma around mental illness. Mental illness is often regarded as a fake disease, something people make up for attention. This stigma creates a culture where it is hard for people struggling with mental illnesses to get help. According to the Child Mind Institute, only around 20% of minors struggling with a mental illness get assistance dealing with it.
Because social media show a lot of perfect and ideal ways of being, it makes people feel like they’re not good enough, and I think that really increases anxiety. - Elizabeth Sloan-Rouse Clinical depression a major category of depression and can effect every part of a person’s life. According the American Psychiatric Association over 17 million Americans suffer from clinical depression. Conditions like depression are the result of changes in brain chemistry, as well as situations. So, when it comes mental illness, people can’t just choose to get better. They have to get professional treatment like any other disease. There are wide variations for mental illness treatments. Medication is a common treatment for depression and anxiety. However, medications for
those illnesses often come with “black box” warnings, which means they can have extreme side effects. Because of these warnings, doctors try to avoid prescribing antidepressants to teenagers. Talk therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy are also common treatments, if one can afford them. Besides the cost of a therapist, Humboldt County is extremely lacking in available and good therapists. Many have week-long waiting lists and are open only during school, making it difficult for teenagers to have regular appointments. Luckily, Arcata High has a guidance counselor on campus. Klima is the guidance counselor for all of Arcata High as well as Pacific Coast and Six Rivers, and she is there to support around 1000 people. “Sometimes I can feel overwhelmed, but then I realize that I can only try my best and that is all we can do,” Klima told me, “All schools need more mental health support, I would like to see individual, group and family therapy available on all school campuses.” With this in mind, what can someone do to combat mental illness without access to regular treatment? In response to this, Elizabeth said, “I think the biggest thing is feeling comfortable with communication with people you already know.” So, open talk to your friends, check up on them. To help ourselves and each other, “spread knowledge” as Elizabeth said, in order to fight the stigma around mental illness and fight the growing epidemic.