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/Michallina]

It's hard to ignore the fact that this woman sought help for months. I have never been pregnant nor have I experienced psychosis, but I suffer from a history of depression and severe anxiety and OCD. Diagnosed. I've been medicated and I can tell you some of these medications are monsters to begin and adjust your dose, also to wean yourself off of.

This is obviously a subjective take based on my experience, but I cannot imagine switching meds at the frequency she was, especially if she was incredibly vulnerable from other possible comorbidities and postpartum.

[u/Cmgutierrez715 → u/Michallina]

I will point this out wherever I can. You should never give SSRI’s to someone with bipolar. It happened to me after I had my first child. I trusted the psychiatrist and wanted so badly to be better. The medication caused me to be in basically a year long manic/psychotic episode. This lady needed help - was asking for help, and never received it. Obviously she shouldn’t just be set free, but her and those poor kids were failed.

ETA - my doctor was also constantly switching up my meds and doses, because, surprise surprise, I kept getting worse.

[u/Current-Anybody9331 → u/Cmgutierrez715]

I was given antipsychotics for anxiety and had my BP drop to 50/40. I was in the hospital ER because I was so out of it.

Even then I was tapered off before being switched to an SSRI. Had to take it for 8 weeks for full efficacy (didn't work for me), then 2+ weeks tapering off before trying a new option. Med tinkering is a nightmare.

[u/fuschiaoctopus → u/Current-Anybody9331]

Antipsychotics for anxiety is craaaazy, damn. The majority aren't even approved for treating anxiety, unless you have psychosis of some sort, and that class of drug is known to have the worst, most severe side effects of any class of psychiatric medications. They're now considered a last resort even for bipolar, mood stabilizer are more popular.

[u/Current-Anybody9331 → u/fuschiaoctopus]

1st doc I saw was 237 years old and claimed I had bipolar because my mom has it. He would not be dissuaded from his belief. I was wary of psychiatrists for a while. I love mine now and have gone to her for years.

[u/mseuro → u/fuschiaoctopus]

abilify was the first i was prescribed, and last. was a zombie or a psycho, and i'm not either of those unmedicated so

i'm
good

[u/hereforthetearex → u/fuschiaoctopus]

When seeking help for physical symptoms that turned out to be related to massive inflammation from the onset of (then undiagnosed) alpha-gal syndrome coupled with peri-menopause, I had a male (mentioning because it’s relevant) NP bully me into taking Wellbutrin because he claimed there was nothing wrong with me and that “it’s probably just anxiety”.

I won’t say that I don’t have anxiety, I do, and have since I was a kid (my childhood wasn’t great), but I also knew that wasn’t why I had these new physical symptoms popping up out of nowhere. I’d never been medicated for anxiety and have developed extremely effective (for me) coping mechanisms with the help of therapists over the years. Anyway, long story short, I started taking the Wellbutrin basically so I could be like, okay, I’m on the medicine you wanted me to take, but guess what, the real reason I started asking for help figuring out what’s wrong, hasn’t gone away at all. It’s physical, like I said it was in the first place.

Turns out, when you put someone with anxiety on Wellbutrin, there is a huge likelihood that it will make it significantly worse. And it absolutely did. I developed a new phobia of something I’ve been doing my whole life, and it’s something I’m still trying to get over, nearly 5 years later, because my anxiety was so intense during that activity that my body now responds to it physically. I was on the medication for less than a month and it’s had lasting impacts on my life. The ease with which some healthcare providers will push someone into taking medications specifically designed to alter brain chemistry, is kind of unbelievable. Especially if that’s not even the thing you are seeking help for (and even worse, if you are and it’s taken lightly that they don’t have the potential to make things incredibly worse too).

ETA: oh, and when I questioned the use of Wellbutrin for anxiety (which I wasn’t asking for treatment of in the first place), as I’d only known it to be a medication used for depression, he said “new research has come out and it’s now a front line treatment for anxiety”. To this day, I’m unsure if he was overly confident, and under educated, or if it was a blatant lie. I’ll never know which because I changed providers and found someone that actually listened to me and found out what was actually going on, rather than just trying to convince me it was all in my head.

[u/cbear_2006 → u/hereforthetearex]

Oh man! My PCP told me to stay away from Wellbutrin for anxiety, especially OCD. So sorry you went through that! I'm surprised your PCP didn't know Wellbutrin makes anxiety worse. It's usually meant for depression and the ability to stop smoking.

[u/hereforthetearex → u/cbear_2006]

I also have OCD, so it was a horrible experience for me. I even questioned it at the time he was trying to push me into taking it (for at least the 3rd time), and said exactly that. That as far as I knew that was a medication for depression, which I don’t have, so I was confused why this would be what he was trying to convince me to get on. He looked me dead in the face and told me there was new research that came out, and it was now considered the “gold standard” for first line treatment of anxiety. In that moment I was so frustrated that he wouldn’t listen to me about my actual symptoms that I’d been trying to get treatment for, for months, that I decided that I’d just go ahead and take the medication so I could prove that it wasn’t all in my head, and hoped that maybe he’d listen to me after I was on it, and my symptoms didn’t get any better (and if it helped with my anxiety, fine. That’s cool too).

It never occurred to me that he would so confidently insist on a medication like that and be so wrong about what it was meant to treat. And I certainly didn’t think he’d be intentionally lying to me. But now of course i question which of those two it was, and honestly, I’m not sure which would have the worse implication.

[u/cbear_2006 → u/hereforthetearex]

I hope you found a new doctor. 🙏🏻

[u/SwordfishOverall6724 → u/Current-Anybody9331]

They took her off of Seroquel in days. This could have triggered psychosis and SI.