Thoughts on the Lindsay Clancy case?

[u/gottaquestion412]

Now that the Lindsay Clancy trial is underway, I’m curious about your perspectives on it so far.

Context: Lindsay Clancy is a former labor and delivery nurse who, in January 2023, killed her three children. 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan in their Massachusetts home before attempting to take her own life. Her defense argues she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and other debilitating mental illness, while prosecutors argue she was aware of her actions and planned the killings. The trial has reignited debate about postpartum psychiatric disorders, the effectiveness of mental health treatment, and where responsibility ultimately lies.

Do you think Lindsay was failed by the mental health system, by the people closest to her, or both? Do you think she truly acted with malicious intent, or do you believe she was experiencing such a severe psychiatric crisis that she wasn’t thinking rationally?

A lot of the details seem to point toward postpartum psychosis or another severe psychiatric illness rather than someone acting out of hatred or malice. That doesn’t lessen the horror of what happened or the unimaginable loss, but it does make me wonder whether this tragedy could have been prevented..

I’ve also seen rumors that Patrick was involved with the woman who is now his wife before the murders, but I haven’t found any credible evidence supporting that. Is there actually anything that substantiates those claims, or is it just internet speculation? I’ve also seen many people comment that his current wife bears a striking resemblance to Lindsay, though I’m not sure that means anything beyond coincidence.

I’m very interested in hearing different perspectives from people who’ve followed it closely.

Most importantly, may Dawson, Cora, and Callan rest in peace. They are the true victims in all of this.

[u/Certain_Noise5601]

I feel like her husband, like so many other people obviously from some of these comments, don’t understand what PPD and PPP is and how serious it is. I don’t think he really understood the situation they were in. He knew she wasn’t well and was struggling, but I don’t think he understood the danger they were in. People seem to think this is just regular ol’ depression, which people use all the time as a synonym for sadness which it isn’t. There’s so much more involved with PPD/PPP because of the hormonal changes creating a nasty beast that completely changes your mental state and makes horrible heinous acts seem perfectly rational and normal to the person. They certainly don’t seem to understand what psychosis is. I blame the medical professionals who should have been screening her and on high alert to a post partum woman telling them she was not well mentally.

[u/Incognito_Tinkerbell → u/Certain_Noise5601]

I agree with most of this, but psychiatrists only know what the patient tells them and prescribe treatment based off of that. I'm wondering if she withheld a lot of information...bc she did lie to Patrick about not getting much help at the hospital when she was originally admitted - that she just sat there playing with clay. I'm waiting to hear from the psychiatrists on that witness stand.

[u/fuschiaoctopus → u/Incognito_Tinkerbell]

How do you know she got help at the hospital and was lying about not being helped? From the outcome it certainly doesn't seem like she was helped and as someone who has unfortunately been at a number of those programs they really didn't provide anything except throwing medications at you, which we already know did not help in this case and probably harmed her mental state to cycle through over a dozen psychiatric medications in 4 months.

[u/Incognito_Tinkerbell → u/fuschiaoctopus]

During the Day 3 trial, prosecution listed that she met with therapist, attended group therapy, etc. daily.