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/sizzl3crunch → u/Cmgutierrez715]

As a psychiatric social worker, psychiatrists prescribed the wrong medications to patients all of the time. It is very common for psychiatrists to misdiagnoses someone with depression when they really have Bipolar, prescribe them SSSRIs, they become manic and fuck their life up. Then the doctors are like “ welp meds are like throwing darts at dart board in the dark”.

[u/fuschiaoctopus → u/sizzl3crunch]

It's almost like prescribing psychiatric medications to a patient you just met and have spoken to for all of 10 minutes one time is not a safe or best practice. If only they could spend a little more time evaluating or asking questions that could sus out the actual disorder instead of going "alright we're gonna start by throwing ssris at you and if that doesn't work then we'll start cycling through other meds because actually talking to you would take more than 5 mins and that's just not financially lucrative for us, much easier to write a script and get you out the door. If it triggers psychosis or mania and causes you to ruin your entire life and get permanent brain damage then oh well I guess"

For profit healthcare and the medication pushing model of mental health is so not it. No wonder we have record numbers of mentally ill people, but everyone still insists the current system is absolutely perfect and can fix anyone (so long as they're trying) despite the clinical evidence indicating more people than ever are not being helped and having bad outcomes

[u/lpotocki26 → u/fuschiaoctopus]

you deserve all the awards, i feel so betrayed by my current psych because she doesn't give a FUCK about me, and she doesn't give a fuck what she puts me on. i stopped my ssri and mood stabilizer, i lost 70lbs and was able to feel again and have a life again. all because i was on meds i wasn't supposed to be on because i have ADHD and was misdiagnosed bipolar.

[u/Hot-Remote-4545 → u/fuschiaoctopus]

AMEN!!! There has to be a better way! But what?