571. The trial of Lindsay Clancy — the Massachusetts mother who allegedly strangled her three young children and says she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis — has reopened a conversation the public has been getting wrong for years. Baby blues, postpartum depression, and postpartum psychosis are three completely different conditions. Only one is a psychiatric emergency. This week Dr. Judy Ho explains the clinical distinctions, the warning signs that loved ones and clinicians miss, the systemic failures that allow this illness to go untreated, and the forensic question at the center of the trial: can a person be both sick and responsible?
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Savvy Psychologist is a part of Quick and Dirty Tips. Find a transcript at QuickandDirtyTips.com.
CORRECTION: In this episode I misspoke about the burden of proof in lack-of-criminal-responsibility cases. In Massachusetts — and in every U.S. state that allows this defense — the burden actually falls on the defendant to prove lack of criminal responsibility, not on the prosecution. I know this — it just didn't come out right on the recording. Thank you all for listening and for contributing to this important discussion about mental health.
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