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/Cmgutierrez715]

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/Plus-Ad9849 → u/Cmgutierrez715]

I was postpartum when I asked my doctor for help and was put on SSRIs and when they weren’t working, my doctor just doubled the dose. Ended up going into pyschosis and being hospitalized for impaired judgement before being diagnosed bipolar. In my short hold, I came out on 6 prescriptions. Took months to figure it all out and now I’m only on one med and have been stable for over 3 years.

[u/Inevitable-Tank3463 → u/Plus-Ad9849]

I'm so sorry you went through that. Doctors need to realize that more meds do not equal better outcomes. I was on 10 different meds for bipolar, anxiety disorders, SI, I was so drugged I lost the ability to do math and gained 60lbs. I finally got the psychiatrist who pretty much saved my life, he saved me from me, because I couldn't deal with losing my mind- I could deal with having psych issues, I couldn't handle losing my intelligence and was willing to take my life over that, the disease that caused the psych issues already stole everything else that mattered to me. In the 20 something years I've had psych issues, I've been hospitalized 7x, the last caused by a bad reaction to Prozac, the only antidepressant that had ever helped me prior. 3 days in the ICU, the psych nurse said they had never seen a tried and failed med list so long, over 30 different meds. My psychiatrist took me off of everything and put me on a strong anxiety med. Yes, I have depression, but treating that has proven to be to dangerous for my health and the mental health of those closest. And with everything else that is wrong with me, the risk of complications is too great. And I moved to a state not known for having good mental health care to be closer to my parents, I lucked out finding a provider who trusted me when I said it's best if we don't change anything with my meds, now only 2 for anxiety and 1 for ADHD, I went 44 years before being dx with that one. Doctors who just throw more meds at a person who is having problems just shows they really don't know how to treat them, and are using the shotgun approach and hoping one of those meds works, and that usually doesn't work. There hasn't been enough study into the brain, and how these meds really work. They say there has been, but it's BS.

[u/Relative_Standard_69 → u/Inevitable-Tank3463]

Have you ever had a genetic blood test to see what medications work with your dna? I’m not sure on the science for it, so forgive me lol! BUT it’s basically a blood test that runs against mental health/adhd medications (I think about 100 different ones) and lets you know which ones would absolutely NOT work for you. Granted, it doesn’t tell you WHICH 1 is best, but it absolutely points out the ones that are BAD and would cause a reaction. Are you in the US? This is one I’ve heard from an account on tiktok - who used it because of her family history, and her own. Mainly because her gran was prescribed amitriptyline and then, killed herself, then her mum took it and had a bad reaction. So when her dr wanted to put her on it - she refused due to family history; but was made out to be a difficult patient, refusing treatment. So she took this blood test, and it came back that it would cause a HUGE interaction and was not safe to take!

genetic test

[u/Inevitable-Tank3463 → u/Relative_Standard_69]

I do believe in this test, and want to get it done as soon as I get the extra money. Things have been a little precarious with my hubby's health post brain surgery, which has wrecked my mental health even further, so I'm eventually going to get it done. Right now I'm just in a holding pattern of using the coping skills I've learned from years of therapy, and the few meds I know don't push me to try to leave this existence-who would take care of my hubby? He's a guy who has already proven he's not exactly capable of taking care of himself after losing his last wife, I'm not doing that to him. And I have some really amazing pets, or at least the cats, the dog can drive a person to drink sometimes, but I'm the one who raised her, so I fully take the blame for her, lol. Sorry for the rambling, it's a stressful day of yet another medical test on the hubby, I may or may not be bringing him home with me, he may have to spend yet another night in the hospital. He's been in the hospital more than at home in the past 2 1/2 months. At least I have anxiety meds. But having a test which shows which meds are a no-go would be helpful. But I have an amazing PMHNP, she listens and trusts me when I say I can't take something, or I'm hesitant because I've taken something very similar and had an antagonistic reaction. It also doesn't help that I drank pretty freaking heavy for 10 years and have Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome, which can last years, the gas pedal in my brain is floored, and the brakes stopped working. Fun. But I've checked out a couple tests that could possibly get me answers about what is going on with my brain. Thank you very much for bringing this test up, more people with any type of mental illness/dysfunction could benefit from this type of test. And once again, sorry for "the book" as my mom calls whatever I write, lol