Carver's made a career of frank confession: talking about a wild childhood, an unreliable drug-dealer dad, her time as a sex worker, her escapades with people and substances. As she writes in a must-read essay in Salon,

I do believe in drugs — for fun and enlightenment. I've tried PCP, LSD, speed, poppers, mushrooms. (I even wrote a book called "Drugs Are Nice.") If it weren't for a one-time use of Ecstasy — which I believe opened up intimacy passages blocked by childhood trauma — I may have gone an entire lifetime without understanding why anyone would want to kiss anyone. E unlocked a door for me. But I didn't understand taking something over and over, walking back and forth through a door already opened wide. That's like watching reruns all day. I've occasionally drunk to black out, only to discover what I was capable of when inhibitions were deactivated. (The answer? A lot!) But I would no more smoke or drink as a daily habit than I would throw darts at my eyes. I was against stupefication in any form — doing computer blackjack at work till you're fired, having compulsive sex with exes who don't care about you. Why would you want to escape life? Life is everything! Nor did I want to escape who I was, no matter how fucked up. I was infinitely interested in strange me, in strange life.

In other words, what she doesn't believe in is numbing yourself to life, as her pill-popping, unhappy mother did. But when her divorce turns ugly and stressful (her husband attempts to use her no-holds-barred confessional writings as evidence of her unfit maternity) her doctor prescribes Xanax. And soon, she's hooked, taking higher doses, using Xanax and Valium first to get to sleep, then to get through the day. And she hates what she's become:

I was pathetic. Dependent, half-alive, secretive, accepting of the unacceptable. I didn't see it that way, because I was in too much of a haze to see much of anything. That's the problem with anti-anxiety medication: Its purpose is to help you ignore internal danger signals that aren't real. Once in its velvety thrall, however, how are you supposed to recognize the warning signs that are real?

And she gives it up, which is rough, but ultimately better than not feeling. Now, I have somewhat mixed feelings about this piece. On the one hand, yes, she had an addiction, as debilitating and unhealthy as any addiction. And it's great that she was able to kick it. On the other hand, I'm always wary of those with a unilateral scorn for prescription drugs, which is what Carver has. Last time I saw my mother, she took me aside for a "talk." It was the usual: maybe I should think about easing off my anti-depressants and take more "brisk walks." Really, she said "it's largely mental" and in our med-dependent culture, it's easy to ignore our body's natural resources. Well, maybe. But nature made me with insufficient endorphins in my adult brain. And before I went on medication I felt an inertia and a crushing sadness and a desire to quit that was profoundly unnatural. And an Ativan has knocked me out of more than one scary spiral of panic and despair. Unlike Carver, I've never been too into drugs - my native instability removed a lot of the appeal. But I'm prepared to take meds as long as I need to. To my mother and her forebears, though, this was something to be embarrassed by, an acknowledgment of weakness better overcome with the forementioned "brisk walks" and a dash of Puritan work ethic. It's not, as Carver says, glamorous; it's not voluntary or experimental. It still carries the taint, for many, of self-indulgence, of Valley of the Dolls-style decadence and indulgent Doctor Roberts tending to neuroses. Of Rush Limbaugh and Betty Ford, rather than Janis and Jimmy. And as a result, when I first started seeing a psychiatrist it was a period of tension between us, and for a long time I felt ashamed. My boyfriend, too, has the former-hippie's suspicion of the "chemical," and it took the undeniable proof of my improvement to resign either of them to the snake oils of Lexapro. It's still not something my mom and I talk about openly.

I guess I feel a sense of this attitude in Carver, both before she went on Xanax and after. And yes, she's right, we're an overmedicated culture. These are serious drugs, or they couldn't effect the changes, good and bad, they do. (As I tell a bored pharmacist every time I pay for a prescription, "Well, I guess I wouldn't want anything cheap in my brain!") Now, I know plenty of people who pop them indiscriminately - anything people have around, anything a hack will prescribe, do you have any leftover Vicodin from your wisdom tooth removal? - just for any momentary break from dull reality. And it's desperate and unhealthy and, unlike many other drugs, can coexist with the symptoms of a functional life. No one would take them if a brisk walk would do the same trick - for good and bad.
My Life In Xanax [Salon]

According to a report by Bonnie Rochman,

As recently as 20 years ago, some in the medical community were still using the male body as their research prototype and extrapolating for women. The approach, as summarized by Anne Drapkin Lyerly, an obstetrician and bioethicist at Duke University, was "If you happen to have boobs and a uterus, then we'll adjust things."

These days, women are included (the "First Wave"), but, Rochman points out, more data on pregnant women is needed. That's why "an élite group" of 30 doctors, ethicists, scientists and government officials gathered in Washington this spring to launch a movement they're calling the Second Wave of clinical research.

As Rochman notes, Chronic illnesses like depression, diabetes and hypertension don't magically disappear during pregnancy. And more and more women are having children later in life, increasing the chances that they have other health problems. How you you weigh the benefits of certain drugs for the mother versus the health risk to the fetus? Given shifts in her metabolism and weight gain, what is what is the appropriate dosage for a mom-to-be? And, of course, what issues arise regarding testing drugs on pregnant women?

"Everyone thinks, Oh, my God, research on pregnant women! All kinds of ethical flags go up," says Ruth Faden, director of the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. "We don't have to start with high drama." There's enough "low-hanging fruit," she says, "that we could keep lots of medical researchers busy for a long time."

Understanding the Risks (and Rewards) of Pills and Pregnancy [Time]

[Munich, May 6. Image via Getty]

A woman works on the art installation 'In this terrible Moment we are victims clinging helplessly to an environment that refuses to acknowledge the soul' by British artist Damien Hirst on show at the Museum Brandhorst in the southern German city of Munich on May 6, 2009. The new museum which shows works from the collection of Udo and Anette Brandhorst is set to open to the public on May 21, 2009. AFP PHOTO DDP / OLIVER LANG GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read OLIVER LANG/AFP/Getty Images)

The gist of the commercial is that all women have to deal with this alone, so actually, in a way, we're all in it together. We also like that, unlike most birth control pill commercials, many of the women in this commercial are single.

We caught this when it aired during Bad Girls Club on Oxygen, but, according to a piece in today's AdAge, conservative groups like Concerned Women for America are making a stink over the fact that a web banner ad for Plan B is running on MTV.com, with one "Concerned" woman saying, "Plan B makes it sound like you can make a mistake and have a do-over, it's irresponsible." (The ad isn't explicit, and merely directs people to the Plan B website with the tagline "Because the unexpected happens.")

'Morning-After Pill' Catches Flak For MTV.com Ad [Ad Age]

Journalists boost brothel business in Sydney during the Pope's visit. • Women over 16 near Teesside beach in the UK can pay 5 pounds and don a bikini to set a new world record on Sunday. There is "no upper age limit." • Hundreds of angry pregnant women in Australia plan to "storm" a hospital that is shutting down its maternity unit per the government's instructions. • Showjumpers in England make a "desperate" attempt to drum up publicity for their sport by having two young female showjumpers pose without their pants. • A nurse in England gave the wrong woman an abortion after she failed to do a background identity check and followed anonymity rules at the clinic to protect women seeking the procedure (the two patients shared the same first name). • Former Olympic track star Marion Jones applied for a federal commute of her six-month prison sentence after she was convicted of lying to federal agents about her performance-enhancing drug use. • The latest strange female aphrodisiac out there? Donkey skin. • It is serious puppy face time!

UPDATE: Apparently it IS availablein the good ol' U.S of A. According to Planned Parenthood, "much of the process (of taking the miscarriage-inducing pills mifepristone and misoprostol) can take place in the privacy of woman's home." Huzzah! Thanks to feministing for pointing out our error.

DailyCandy Everywhere thinks antidepressants should go in our shampoo, not our bloodstream.

DailyCandy Chicago suggests that Windy City women beat the heat by piling into a chauffered SUV with their girlfriends, booze, and a personal shopper for a full day of boutiquing.

DailyCandy Los Angeles tells us we're wrong if we think that someone who reads constellations in the universe is a quack and incapable of solving all our major life problems. That's what antidepressants are for!

DailyCandy Miami wants to see our asses clad in a muumuu.

DailyCandy Philadelphia: Repeat after us: No. More. Skinny. Jeans.

Does DailyCandy San Francisco have a Jew fetish? (And do they think all Jews love food?)

Earlier: DailyCandy's Darkness Visible

• Al "I'm The Man Who Was Elected President, But Whatever I'm A Movie Star Now" Gore has "fallen out of love" with politics, he says. And thus will not be running for president... again. If this is true, what a drama queen! If this isn't true, what an even bigger drama queen! Simmer down, Al! (And if you need some help with that, we're sure your son has some pills that could help.) [CNN]
  
• We [heart] brave kittens. Especially when they're better swimmers than we'll ever be. [ABCNews]
  
• The list of that D.C. madam's hooker-hiring politicians goes public! God, this is going to be more entertaining to watch than an America's Next Top Model. [The Smoking Gun]
  
• Taking "til death do us part" to a whole other level, a Welsh couple commit joint suicide after finding out that the husband had only a few weeks to live. In their suicide notes, they said they knew they could not live without one another. Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro: You guys are jokes. [Daily Mail UK]

• Our mother always told us that swimming pools were scary places. And just now had we mustered up the strength to buy our first-ever bathing suit in attempt to get over our fears. Then we read this. Bathing suit: Now in a drawer forever. [ABCNews]
• MTV has ordered a 4th season of Laguna Beach. What's that sound? Oh yes, our souls shattering. [Star]
• Good news for Russia: You're all over the runways! Bad news for Russia: It's looking more and more like you poison your own kind. [NYT]
• DailyCandy-ites rejoice: Sex and the City: The Movie is going to happen, at last. [E!]
• 6 U.S. casualties identified. [DoD]

Empty calories after the jump.

DailyCandy Everywhere thinks that music works better than pills for easing your problems. Ha. Fools.
DailyCandy Dallas reminds you that nuts are a healthy snack. Especially when they're coated with butter, sugar, and chocolate!
DailyCandy Dallas wants you to eat yummy chocolates even if, like, you'll then have "a long, long way to run to work those calories off." But you're soooooo undernourished right now.
http://www.dailycandy.com/article.jsp?ArticleId=31128&city=9">DailyCandy London called you a "lardarse." Right after they said you're "committing social suicide" and "have pubes down to your ankles." Ouch.
DailyCandy Los Angeles thinks that an entire store devoted to 70's pool party style is a meaningful contribution to society.
DailyCandy New York wants you to become a lardarse and is pushing a late-night cookie delivery service.
DailyCandy San Francisco thinks you get off on adorning your body with 18-karat gold and black diamond animal heads. "Yeah, they're on the pricey side," DailyCandy concedes of the taxidermy-inspired pins. How pricey, they do not say. We are sooooooooooo tempted!