Postpartum Psychosis and Why We Have to Say It.

The Thing That Happened

On the morning of January 24, 2023, Lindsay Clancy, a 32-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, woke up feeling good. That's what she told her husband Patrick when he asked her how she slept. That's what she reported that evening when he asked how she was doing. She had taken their five-year-old daughter Cora to the pediatrician that morning. Cora had a stomach ache. Nothing seemed wrong. The doctor didn't notice anything unusual about Lindsay's behavior.

Later that morning, she built a snowman with Cora and three-year-old Dawson. She texted photos to her mother. She texted photos to Patrick. She was smiling. She was happy. She was having, by every account, one of her best days.

That evening, at 4:53 p.m., she texted Patrick and asked him to pick up dinner from ThreeV restaurant. She also asked him to stop at the CVS pharmacy for Cora's constipation medication. He left the house at around 5:15 p.m. He was gone less than an hour.

When he came home, he found his three children strangled to death in the basement. Cora, five. Dawson, three. Callan, eight months. Lindsay had used exercise bands to strangle them. She had then cut her own wrists and neck and jumped from a second-story window. She survived but was left paralyzed from the waist down.

This is not a true crime story. Or it is, but that's not what it's really about.

The trial is asking a legal question: Was Lindsay Clancy criminally responsible? Did she know the difference between right and wrong? Was she experiencing postpartum psychosis or was she acting with intent and planning? The prosecution argues one thing. The defense argues another. A jury is trying to figure out which one is true.

But there's a question underneath that question, and it's the one that actually matters for every woman reading this.

It's this: This exists. In the world we live in. Right now. And what are we actually going to do about the fact that a mother's brain can do this?

Not whether Lindsay Clancy is guilty. Not whether she should be punished or hospitalized. Whether this condition is real and whether we're prepared for it.

We're not.

What Postpartum Psychosis Actually Is

Postpartum psychosis is not postpartum depression. This is critical. Postpartum depression affects roughly 1 in 7 to 1 in 8 women after they give birth. It's common enough that people talk about it, doctors screen for it (sometimes), and there are resources available. You feel sad. You feel hopeless. You feel disconnected from your baby. It's brutal and it's underdiagnosed and it's undertreated, but at least people have a framework for understanding what it is.

Postpartum psychosis is different. It affects 1 to 2 out of every 1,000 women who give birth. So rare that most OB/GYNs will only see a handful of cases in their entire career. So rare that it's not even classified as its own distinct diagnosis in the DSM-5, the handbook that mental health professionals use to identify and treat psychiatric conditions. So rare that most women have never heard of it.

But Lindsay Clancy's brain experienced it. And she's not the only one. Right now, somewhere in this country, a mother is experiencing postpartum psychosis and no one is calling it by its name.

The symptoms come on suddenly. Losing your grip on reality in days or sometimes hours. Hallucinations. Delusions. A complete break from what's actually happening around you. The woman you were three days ago is gone and someone else is sitting there in her body.

Other symptoms: severe insomnia (not just feeling tired, but your brain literally unable to shut off), paranoia, rapid and extreme mood swings, agitation so severe it looks like restlessness, confusion and disorganization. Some women experience intrusive thoughts about harming their children, though this is less common than people think. About 5% of women with postpartum psychosis will attempt suicide. About 4% will commit infanticide.

This is not a choice. This is not weakness. This is your brain malfunctioning in a very specific and very serious way.

Here's what makes it even more dangerous: postpartum psychosis has what experts call a "waxing and waning" course. This means a woman can appear fine at one moment and completely unwell at the next. She can be functional enough to shower and make coffee and talk to her neighbor and take her child to the doctor, and then two hours later she's in full psychosis, unable to recognize her own children, convinced they're in danger or that she's being watched or that she needs to protect them from something that isn't real.

This makes it almost impossible to catch. Even for experienced clinicians.

This is exactly what made Lindsay invisible until she wasn't.

The Months Before: Everything We Missed

Lindsay Clancy's third child, Callan, was born in early January 2023. By the time he was born, she was already in trouble. The system just didn't know it yet.

Her third child (she also had Cora and Dawson from that marriage) was born in May 2022. After his birth, she started preparing to return to work. That's when things started shifting. Patrick testified that she had a "really hard time being separated from them." By September 2022, she started seeing Dr. Jennifer Tufts, a psychiatrist. From September 2022 to January 2023, she saw Dr. Tufts 14 times. Fourteen times. Each visit was supposed to help. Each visit was supposed to be another chance to catch what was happening.

But the evidence shows something different.

She started on Zoloft and had immediate difficulty. The medication made things worse. She was prescribed Valium, Prozac, Klonopin. Medication changes. More medication changes. Different doctors making different decisions. No one coordinating. No one tracking the full picture.

By late October, her mother Paula Musgrove came to stay with her. Musgrove lived in Connecticut but would stay with Lindsay from October into December 2022. What she saw scared her. Lindsay was scared of sleeping alone. She was becoming increasingly paranoid. She believed the medications she was taking "were destroying her mind." This is what her own mother witnessed and reported. This is what was visible to someone who loved her and was paying attention.

In late November 2022, the intrusive thoughts started. "Horrible intrusive thoughts" about harming herself, as one expert would later describe them. By early December, she was in what Patrick called a "big spiral." She had started a new antipsychotic medication and it made everything worse.

On December 31, 2022, New Year's Eve, she checked herself into a psychiatric hospital. She was scared. Patrick had to tell her she had to go. She spent five days at McLean Hospital, one of the most respected psychiatric facilities in the country. When she was discharged on January 5, she left with prescriptions for Ativan and trazodone.

On January 6, she met with Dr. Tufts again. Tufts documented that Lindsay was "deteriorating." The prescription pad came out. More changes. Amitriptyline on January 16.

On January 23, the day before it happened, Lindsay had a 17-minute virtual appointment with Tufts. During that call, documented in the medical record, she denied suicidal ideation. She denied homicidal ideation. She said she was fine.

That night, her phone showed searches. "Where is the carotid artery." "How to slit your throat to die." "Can you turn airbags off on Kia Sorento." "Can you treat a sociopath?" In her diary she wrote: "I'm so desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everyone that my mind is trying to find something physically wrong with me."

On the morning of January 24, Patrick asked her how she slept. She said good. He was hopeful. She seemed to be improving. She had been through the hospital. She was on medication. She was seeing a psychiatrist. The system was supposed to have her.

The Reality of What We Actually Saw

What matters is not whether prosecutors can prove she planned it. What matters is not whether a jury can determine whether she knew right from wrong. What matters is that in the days and weeks leading up to January 24, multiple people saw evidence of a psychiatric crisis and none of them acted on it with the urgency it required.

Her mother saw her deteriorating and becoming paranoid. She was there. She was watching. But she's a mother, not a doctor. She called her daughter's psychiatrist. She told her what she was seeing. And nothing changed.

Patrick saw her struggling with insomnia, anxiety, medication after medication that wasn't working. He took her to the hospital on New Year's Eve. He visited her during her stay at McLean. He was checking in with her every morning asking how she slept. He was paying attention. He was trying. But he's a husband, not a psychiatrist. What could he do?

Dr. Jennifer Tufts saw her 14 times. Fourteen appointments over four months. At the inpatient facility, psychiatrist Dr. Alia Goodheart evaluated her and noted that sleep deprivation "could contribute to a manic episode." She documented that Clancy reported feeling "numb." Goodheart testified that she wanted to "further observe her sleep" when Clancy checked out. This is a doctor recognizing a symptom and wanting to monitor it. This is a system that sees a red flag.

And then Clancy went home. No hospitalization. No continued inpatient care. Outpatient appointments with her psychiatrist. Telehealth visits. A 17-minute virtual call the day before she killed her children.

Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist who specializes in filicide (the killing of a child by a parent), testified that on January 24, Clancy was "clearly psychotic." That she heard a command voice telling her: "This is your last chance." That she was not in control of her actions.

Dr. Gregory Saathoff, the prosecution's expert, testified that she had the capacity to appreciate right from wrong.

Both of these things might be true at the same time. That's the hell of postpartum psychosis. You can know what you're doing and not be able to stop yourself. Your brain can be breaking while you're still technically aware that something is wrong.

But the point is not which expert is right. The point is that this happened. In January 2023. To a woman receiving psychiatric care. To a woman who had been hospitalized. To a woman whose family was terrified and trying to help. To a woman who was a nurse, who understood medical systems, who had access to care.

And it still happened.

What We Know About Performance and Invisibility

On January 22, 2023, two days before, Lindsay and Patrick went to dinner with friends. Lindsay was quiet. She was on her phone mostly, keeping to herself. The friend who attended said she was "actually surprised she was there, due to Pat's statements about her health." The friend hadn't seen Lindsay in a couple months. She noticed something was off, but she didn't know what it meant.

On January 8, they went to a museum. On January 15, the family took a trip to Cape Cod. They played at an indoor waterpark. Patrick took photos. The kids were happy. Lindsay was there. From the outside, this looks like a family managing. Recovering. Getting better.

But underneath, according to her diary, she felt desperate. She wrote that her mind was trying to find something physically wrong with her just to escape. She was searching the internet for how to kill herself. She was terrified to sleep alone. She was on a medication regimen that wasn't working, and every new medication made things worse.

On January 23, she had that 17-minute call with Dr. Tufts. She said she wasn't suicidal. She said she wasn't having homicidal thoughts. She denied the things that would have triggered an emergency response. Because if she admitted them, she would lose her children. She would be seen as dangerous. She would be hospitalized. She would be labeled as the thing every mother fears: the one who is not safe with her own kids.

So she performed fine. And she was believed because performance is what we look for. We see the museum visit. We see the waterpark photos. We see the woman who can take her kid to the pediatrician. We see functional and we think recovering.

We don't see the brain that is actively breaking.

On the morning of January 24, she took Cora to the pediatrician for a stomach ache. The doctor saw nothing wrong with her behavior. She was present, attentive, doing what mothers do. That afternoon, she built a snowman with her children. She took photos. She sent them to her mother. This is what a good mother does. This is what a mentally healthy person does.

At 4:53 p.m., she texted her husband about dinner. She asked him to pick up medication from the pharmacy. She was organized enough to think about errand logistics. Organized enough to manage the details of the household. Organized enough that when Patrick called to confirm which medication brand Cora needed, he said he felt something was off but he wasn't sure what. Something was off. But not off enough to stop him from leaving the house.

This is what postpartum psychosis looks like in real time. It looks normal. It looks like recovery. It looks like a woman who is managing. Until the moment it doesn't.

This Exists

Here is what matters: Lindsay Clancy's brain broke. Not because she was a bad person. Not because she was weak or lazy or didn't try hard enough. Not because she didn't love her children. Her brain broke because postpartum psychosis is a real psychiatric condition that happens to real mothers in a world that has no framework for understanding it or preventing it.

Patrick Clancy, her ex-husband, has said publicly: "I wasn't married to a monster. I was married to someone who got sick."

Fifty family members, friends, and former colleagues submitted letters to the judge testifying to Lindsay Clancy's character. This was a woman who people knew and cared about. This was not a hidden monster. This was a mother whose brain malfunctioned in the most catastrophic way possible.

And she is not the only one. Right now, somewhere in this country, a woman is experiencing postpartum psychosis. She's not being screened for it. She's not being hospitalized for it. She's at home with her children and she's scared and she's trying to hide it and she's praying that her brain will stabilize on its own, with the same medications that aren't working.

That woman exists. And we don't talk about her. And we don't prepare for her. And we act like the fact that this can happen to anyone, at any time, to any mother, is not something we need to take seriously.

What You Need to Know If You're Postpartum

This condition exists. That's the first thing. Not "it might exist." Not "it's rare enough to ignore." It exists. It's happening right now. To someone. Somewhere. Maybe to someone you know.

The warning signs: hallucinations. Delusions. Severe insomnia (not just being tired, but being unable to sleep even when the baby sleeps). Racing thoughts. Paranoia. Extreme mood swings. Confusion. If you're having thoughts of harming yourself or your children, that's a symptom. Not a reflection of who you are. Not a sign that you're a bad mother. A symptom.

The thing about postpartum psychosis is that it's treatable. If you get the right treatment, you recover. Women who experience it go on to have healthy relationships with their children. They go on to have normal lives. The condition is temporary. It's an illness, not a personality trait. It's not permanent damage. It's not who you are.

But you have to tell someone. And you have to tell them in a way that they understand the urgency. Not "I'm feeling a little off." Not "I'm tired and anxious." "My grip on reality is compromised. I need immediate psychiatric care."

You have to be willing to be hospitalized. Not because you're dangerous. Because you're in a medical emergency.

If you know someone who's postpartum and something seems off, trust your gut. If she seems confused or paranoid or not herself, if she's not sleeping, if she's saying things that don't make sense, if her family is scared, raise an alarm. Don't wait for her to ask for help. She might not be able to see that she needs it.

Push for psychiatric hospitalization. Not because we're being dramatic. Because postpartum psychosis is a medical emergency.

What This Means for All of Us

The question the Clancy trial is asking is: Did she know right from wrong?

But that's not actually the question that matters. The question that matters is: In the world we live in, in 2026, is a mother's brain able to break this way? Can a woman who loves her children, who was receiving psychiatric care, who had been hospitalized, whose family was terrified and trying to help, still end up in a psychiatric emergency with her children?

Yes. The answer is yes. It happened on January 24, 2023. To Lindsay Clancy. And it can happen again. To someone else. To someone you know.

We live in a world where postpartum psychosis exists. It's rare. It's treatable. It's not common. But it's real, and it happens to mothers, and we're not preparing for it or talking about it or making space for it in our understanding of motherhood.

That's what matters. Not whether we believe her. Not whether she's guilty. The fact that this is possible. That this is real. That it's happening in our world while we go about our lives acting like it's not.

Patrick Clancy said it plainly: "I wasn't married to a monster. I was married to someone who got sick."

Someone got sick. That person was a mother. Her brain broke. And her three children died. And she's paralyzed. And she's standing trial. And none of that changes the fact that this condition exists and it's happening now and we need to talk about it the way we talk about every other serious illness that affects mothers.

Not as a true crime story. As a medical emergency. As something that can happen. As something we need to prepare for.

If you're experiencing symptoms of postpartum psychosis or any postpartum mental health crisis, call the Postpartum Support International helpline at 1-800-944-4773 or text 503-894-9453. Call 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) if you're in immediate crisis.

Go to your nearest emergency room. This is a medical emergency. You deserve immediate care. You deserve to be seen. And the rest of us deserve to know that this exists so we can recognize it when it shows up.

Because it will show up. For someone. Somewhere. Right now.

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References and Sources

Trial Evidence (Lindsay Clancy Case, 2026):

The information about Lindsay Clancy is drawn from extensive trial testimony and court documents from her murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Massachusetts, 2026.

Key sources include:

• Patrick Clancy's testimony regarding symptoms, medications, and the sequence of events from September 2022 to January 24, 2023

• Dr. Jennifer Tufts (treating psychiatrist): testimony about 14 psychiatric appointments and medication changes

• Dr. Alia Goodheart (McLean Hospital): testimony about sleep deprivation, observable symptoms, and discharge on January 5, 2023

• Dr. Phillip Resnick (defense expert, forensic psychiatrist specializing in filicide): testimony that Clancy was "clearly psychotic" on January 24 and heard a command voice

• Dr. Gregory Saathoff (prosecution expert): testimony regarding Clancy's capacity to appreciate right from wrong

• Paula Musgrove (Clancy's mother): testimony regarding her observations of paranoia, medication concerns, and fear of sleeping alone from October-December 2022

• Clancy's diary entries and phone search history documented in court

• 50 character letters submitted to the court

Postpartum Psychosis Statistics and Definition:

• Postpartum psychosis prevalence: 1-2 per 1,000 births (DSM-5, established clinical consensus)

• Suicide rate among women with postpartum psychosis: approximately 5%

• Infanticide rate among women with postpartum psychosis: approximately 4%

• Classification note: Postpartum psychosis is not classified as its own distinct diagnosis in the DSM-5; it falls under "Brief Psychotic Disorder" or "Major or Bipolar Disorder with Peripartum Onset"

Resources and Support Organizations:

• Postpartum Support International (PSI): www.postpartum.net, 1-800-944-4773

• Baby Blues Connection (Portland-based): (800) 557-8375, www.babybluesconnection.org

• National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262)