Content warning: This post contains mentions of suicide, postpartum psychosis and depression, and harm to children.
Conversations on social media about Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy continue to swirl as new information is released. The 32-year-old nurse was mother to 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan. Last week, she allegedly attempted suicide by jumping out of a window in her home while her three children were found unconscious with obvious signs of trauma, CBS News reported.
Cora and Dawson Clancy were pronounced dead later that day, and after being flown to Boston Children’s Hospital with traumatic injuries, Callan was pronounced dead three days later. Lindsay remains hospitalized and in police custody. She currently faces two counts of murder and three counts each of strangulation and assault and battery with a deadly weapon. But following Callan’s death on Friday, her charges are expected to be upgraded. If convicted of first-degree murder, she will face an automatic life sentence in Massachusetts.
Rita Musgrove, the kids’ great-grandmother, told NBC Boston that she spoke with Lindsay last week and nothing seemed amiss. Lindsay’s husband, Patrick Clancy, also started a GoFundMe page, where he shared his thoughts about the situation, explaining that Lindsay was not the same person as the one who allegedly committed those acts. “She’s recently been portrayed largely by people who have never met her and never knew who the real Lindsay was,” he wrote. “Our marriage was wonderful and diametrically grew stronger as her condition rapidly worsened.”
Authorities have not commented on whether any mental illness may have played a role in the homicides or if Lindsay had any mental health history, but sources told the WBZ-TV I-Team postpartum psychosis was a possible cause, per CBS News.
In a previous story for POPSUGAR, Mary Kimmel, MD, medical director of the Perinatal Psychiatry Inpatient Unit at UNC Hospitals – Chapel Hill, described postpartum psychosis to patients as “the most severe form of postpartum depression.” It’s often associated with tragic events like infanticide and suicide, though these only occur in four percent and five percent of cases of postpartum psychosis, respectively. Symptoms of postpartum psychosis can include strange beliefs, hallucinations, paranoia, and rapid mood swings, according to Postpartum Support International. While the condition is temporary, it should be treated as an emergency because there is always the risk of danger due to the delusional thinking and irrational judgment.
Patrick’s statement is a reminder that postpartum psychosis is a very complex mental health condition and those who’ve struggled with it deserve sympathy. He urged the community to forgive Lindsay on his GoFundMe page. “I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have,” he wrote. “The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards everyone – me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients. The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicide ideation, postpartum psychosis, or depression, the National Alliance on Mental Illness has resources available, including a helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6424). You can also dial 988, the nation’s suicide and crisis hotline.