Issue 10

Harbinger the

ISSUE 10 / SHAWNEE MISSION EAST / PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS

FEB. 2, 2009

LOOKING FOR THE

Sophomore copes with rehab for bipolar disorder and struggles to rid herself of past problems // CAMILLEKARRO

// ANDYALLEN

Enveloped in her queen sized bed, then freshman Anousha Shirazi seems to shrink within her petite frame. Tears rush uncontrollably down her cheek and wet the cell phone she clutches firmly to her ear. She clings desperately to the phone, as if it contains her life’s value. Her profound depression sinks to an even darker place. On the other end, her boyfriend, a former East student, shouts at her relentlessly. She just sobs. He threatens to break up with her. The thought of losing the first boy she loved breaks the built-up stress bank. “I don’t want to live anymore,” Anousha thought at that instant, “I don’t want to have feelings anymore.” That Sunday, at 9 p.m., she swallowed 20 of her daily antidepressants. It was Anousha’s first week of high school. *** Anousha survived that night, and returned to school with the same glint in her cocoa-colored eyes. She stands out as an exotic beauty with wavy black hair and caramel skin. Walking briskly down the hall in her gold, monogrammed Coach boots, Anousha holds her head up high. “Back in sixth [through] eighth grade, I would sometimes walk with my head to the floor so no one would see me crying, asking myself ‘would anyone notice if I were gone? Would anyone care?’” Anousha said. “I’ve overcome that. I have become so strong. I will succeed.” As a sophomore, she maintains her grades and is headed for I.B. next year. It’d be easy to think she’s made a comeback. However, her healthy facade covers a psychological issue deeper than a trip to rehab. While battling her issues with drugs, Anousha endures the real battle -- learning to cope with manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder. “There’s a difference between being in rehab for alcohol or drug abuse and going because of bipolar [disorder],” her mother, Stephanie Shirazi said. “She will always be dealing with that.” Anousha has always been a tiny girl, smaller than most her age at 5 feet, 100 pounds, but her size is undercut by her sharp mind and no-nonsense understanding of social networking among the cattiest of girls. Bubbly and fun, but never to be mistaken for a ditz, she is scarily mature and cognizant of the benefits of having older friends. Anousha’s cousin, senior Rachel English, noticed her tendency to gravitate towards kids at least two years older. “She would start hanging out with my friends and she was so much younger than me,” English said. “I kinda considered my life with her and my life with my friends separate, and then when they merged, it really bugged me.” How Anousha came to be an adult so quickly can be puzzling and even enviable, but after observing her stone-like attitude toward her past, it’s put into question whether something is missing. A childhood, Anousha thinks. She’s missing a childhood.

Continued on page 12

NEWS: SHARE credit card created >PAGE 4

FEATURES: WPA on the cheap >PAGE 11

A&E: Spring movie preview >PAGE 23