Lindsay Clancy trial highlights Postpartum Depression and Psychosis
(WWAY) — The trial of Lindsay Clancy is putting a spotlight on postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, serious mental health conditions that can affect women following childbirth.
Clancy is accused of killing her three children — five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan — at the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023.
Clancy has acknowledged killing her children, but her defense argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If convicted, she could face life in prison.
Postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis are different conditions. Postpartum depression is more common and can cause persistent sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, changes in sleep or appetite, and difficulty bonding with a baby.
Postpartum psychosis is rare but is considered a psychiatric emergency. Symptoms can include hallucinations, delusions, severe confusion, paranoia and a loss of contact with reality.
Experts say there is no single cause of postpartum mental health disorders. Physical and hormonal changes following childbirth can play a role, along with emotional stress, sleep deprivation and other factors.
Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Erika Fisher says treating postpartum depression can be complicated because every patient can respond differently.
“So there isn’t a one-size-fits-all for how you treat postpartum depression. Talk therapy is something, psychopharmacology is another thing, and again, there’s not one-size-fits-all. So one medication that might work for one woman might not work for another, and the side effects might be minimal in one woman, and they might be extreme in another woman.”
Fisher says treatment is a process, and women experiencing postpartum mental health symptoms should continue communicating with their doctors, loved ones and other people they trust.
She says keeping those lines of communication open can be an important part of identifying changes in mental health and determining what type of treatment may be needed.
