Postpartum Psychosis {PPP} is often referred to as puerperal psychosis or peripartum psychosis. The main question here would be, “Can postpartum psychosis be classified as a mental illness?” I strongly believe the answer should be “Yes!” However, postpartum psychosis is still not recognized completely today as an actual mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders {DSM}. There is no set treatment guideline that has been provided for women who are at substantial risk for this disease in the DSM.

 In a minority of cases, PPP usually occurs within the first two weeks after giving birth. The condition is considered extremely dangerous but rare. Unfortunately, research now suggests that postpartum psychosis has been known to develop before and during pregnancy but also several months after a woman has given birth. Postpartum Psychosis should be considered a psychiatric emergency followed by immediate hospitalization. When not seeking help, it can create immediate danger for the woman involved but also for the infant as well as other children within the household.

I have been following the case of Lindsay Clancy, who once worked as a labor and delivery nurse. She had collaborated with women giving birth for several years as a nurse. So how did it get to the point where she lost control of herself as a mother and took the lives of her own three children? It is horribly sad that three innocent lives are gone. This should have never happened. But Lindsay Clancy is not the first woman to have postpartum psychosis, nor will she be the last woman to have it.

Postpartum Psychosis has been around for a long time. Even centuries ago, it was not taken seriously enough in the medical field. Doctors once thought it was just a simple case of “baby blues” women had after giving birth. Years ago, the medical field viewed postpartum psychosis as a short-term condition and often assumed that women would recover on their own with minimal treatment. Some women who went past the stage of “baby blues” would be labeled as having a “nervous breakdown,” and several were institutionalized. The correct diagnosis or treatment was not provided to these women.

Sadly, many women in the past did not seek treatment. They were often ashamed, and so were their families. However, Lindsay Clancy is not the only woman who has killed her children. There have been other women in the past who have done so. When researching throughout history, there is evidence that severe depression existed in women during and after childbirth for many years. If one decides to do further research, this information can be found as early as 400 BC concerning serious depression in women.

Research shows that postpartum depression was not recognized until around 1944 within the medical field. When reading about women’s unusual behavior throughout history following childbirth, much was thought about a woman’s state of mind at that time. Unfortunately, the medical field also, during the past centuries, was not that knowledgeable about the depths of depression in women following childbirth. So, what really happened to Lindsay Clancy’s state of mind? To better understand the question, we first need to look more closely at mental illness. This is where government grants or funds are seriously needed.

Mental health research has not received the attention they deserve to help improve the lives of every individual with mental illness. Throughout the centuries, as resources such as grants and funding were allocated to different medical fields, the mental health field received the least funding. There has not been enough funding dedicated to finding better answers and treatments for people suffering from diverse types of mental illness in the past or present. The government wasted funds on research in unnecessary areas.

Funds provided for mental health should have been a priority. Studies have shown that women who have been treated for bipolar disorder or have a history of a close family member diagnosed with postpartum psychosis have an even higher risk for developing this illness. Basically, with any diagnosis of mental illness within the family, the risk is still high. Postpartum Psychosis does not go away on its own. Research has shown that different forms of mental illness can be passed down from one generation to the next generation; it can skip a generation. Past studies have shown it can skip multiple generations before showing up.

The main question that needs to be asked is, “At what point in time, within any individual ‘s life, do they reach their breaking point?” Science has not provided enough information to show why or when this may occur. The human mind still, to this day, remains a mystery in the medical field until hopefully one day it can be solved. It is estimated that millions of people are affected by some form of mental illness in the U. S. Unfortunately, only half will receive any treatment.

The mind is also like a roadmap, and where it will go when an individual is not in the right state of mind is often uncertain. What happens when an individual has lost the ability to think and act straight? Can they really tell the difference between right and wrong if they are hallucinating and experiencing delusional thoughts? In that state of mind, what kind of control do they have over their normal thought process? Because everything they see, hear, feel, or smell is very real. It is extremely hard to change an individual’s perception when they have developed hallucinating thoughts and experiences delusions.

Regrettably, they are often subjected to developing serious delusions. They have suspicions about everything and usually everybody. Their fears, thoughts, or beliefs at that time were not true, but again to them, it is very real. Most individuals suffer from serious depression and uncontrollable mood swings. An actual individual suffering from hallucinations and delusions can display many diverse types of behavioral issues that are very frightening and dangerous to those around them.

Unfortunately, if they are left untreated, they can often become violent. It is wise not to argue with any individual during this period. It will only make them more hostile towards you. If you have never experienced a family member being diagnosed with a serious form of mental illness, when it occurs, it is a shock. And if you have never been around someone close to you affected by mental health issues, it is a revelation. Providing care for a loved one with a mental illness can at times be overwhelming and difficult to deal with. It takes a lot of strength and courage to continue to provide or seek help for your loved one.

The most important thing to understand from the beginning is that mental illness does not go away! It is never cured, but the symptoms can become better. Patience, understanding, and love is particularly important. A stable home environment is critical for your loved one to live as normal a life as possible. Unfortunately, many families do not understand, nor have they been informed enough to cope. This is where more education and awareness are seriously needed.

Learning how to cope with distinct types of mental illness is especially important to teach not only the individuals diagnosed with a mental illness but their families as well. I am a firm believer that every medical facility should develop training seminars for individuals and their family members before anyone is discharged. Most facilities have short programs just for the individuals. It should be mandatory that families attend mental health educational seminars within a period before their loved one is discharged from a facility or if a proper diagnosis has been given from an outside medical source.

I certainly hope for the future, more research will be provided to encourage a solid foundation for individuals and their family members with a mental illness. It does not matter what type of mental illness a loved one may have. They need professional help as soon as possible. In Lindsay Clancy’s case, she was not properly medicated and was also misdiagnosed. It saddens me to think that three innocent children had to die because of neglect due to errors within the medical field.

Do I think Lindsay Clancy should receive the death penalty? “No!”  Do I think she should be set free? “No!”  Do I think that she should be committed to a regular prison? “No!”  Do I think she should be institutionalized for the remainder of her life? “Yes!” The lives of her children cannot be recovered. The heartache will always be there for the families on both sides. There is no amount of justice in cases like this that can dull the pain of losing innocent children to such horrible deaths. In several known cases, the mothers attempted suicide or committed suicide. Lindsay Clancy is a prime example.

When I was working in the medical field throughout the years with individuals diagnosed with a form of mental illness, I questioned the protocol for treatments. Often, individuals were misdiagnosed. However, it is difficult to make an accurate diagnosis for an individual when they have not been closely monitored. This is where family input is especially important. A family member or an appointed care provider needs to be involved in the care of a loved one who has been diagnosed with a mental illness.

One of the most important decisions to make is encouraging and monitoring medication daily. Providing a stable and caring environment is extremely critical as well. Providing and encouraging well-balanced, nutritious meals, attending doctor appointments regularly, and encouraging healthy hygiene habits. Most important is finding an excellent psychiatrist. One that listens to the patients and family members, especially when problems arise. Of course, finding the right medications to help with the symptoms. Making sure that the individual is not overmedicated or unmedicated. Because both can create a huge problem.

In Lindsay Clancy’s case, there were signs that something was terribly wrong for a lengthy period. However, was her condition overlooked within the medical field? Did anyone request a temporary detention order {TDO} or an emergency custody order be put in place? If so, how long did she stay within a medical facility for treatment? The biggest question, if she was admitted for care, “How closely was she monitored within a medical facility or even within her home environment by her husband?”

One thing that I have learned by having a close family member with a serious mental illness is the fact that you cannot allow psychiatrists or nurse practitioners to play around with the individual’s psychiatric medications by switching them continually. The constant changing of an individual’s medications, I believe, creates an unhealthy chemical balance in the brain. The other major concern here would be: if an individual’s psychiatric medications are controlling their mental health problems and the individual is   stable and has been for a lengthy period, one would have to ask, “Why would anyone change them?”

 Why is it that several psychiatrists or nurse practitioners consider doing this to an individual? Especially if there are no problems with their behavior unless there is an active health-related problem due to their psychiatric medications. I have seen this happen several times. Sadly, the individual will incur active psychological problems within a brief period. Most individuals will become unstable when this happens. Once this is done, in a minority of the time it is the individual that suffers.

Do not allow a professional working in the mental health field to change the medications unless there is a risk associated with taking a certain psychiatric medication healthwise and it has been proven. Can you take too many psychiatric medications? The answer is Yes! Too many is just as bad as not taking enough to regulate symptoms associated with mental illness. Can an individual be misdiagnosed? “Yes!” Can an individual be given the prescribed the wrong type of medication that, instead of helping their symptoms, may increase their symptoms more? “Yes!” The outcome for any of this is not good.

My concluding thoughts:

And I do not think I can stress this enough, but postpartum psychosis is very real and extremely dangerous. As a husband or boyfriend, even a family member or just a friend, if you have a loved one going through a pregnancy and you believe they are suffering from depression … please encourage them to seek help. Monitor them closely. If you must… write down their behavioral problems. Get involved in their healthcare. If they do not agree with you about treatment and if all else fails and symptoms progress, please seek help immediately and do a TDO or ECO if necessary. Save a life … it may save several lives.Especially the life of an  innocent child or children.

References

1. Cleveland Clinic. Postpartum Psychosis. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24152-postpartum-psychosis
2. WebMD. Postpartum Psychosis: How to Deal With It. https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/postpartum-psychosis-overview
3. Cleveland Clinic. Does Mental Illness Run in Families? https://health.clevelandclinic.org/does-mental-illness-run-in-families
4. Policy for Maternal Mental Health. Recognizing Warning Signs Through the “Postpartum Psychosis Symptom Checklist.” https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics
5. MMHLA Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance. Maternal Mental Health Conditions and Statistics: An Overview. https://www.mmhla.org/articles/maternal-mental-health-conditions-and-statistics
6. NAMI. Family &Friends. https://www.nami.org/programs/nami-family-to-family/
7. Psychscenehub.Postpartum (Puerpérale) Psychosis: Pathophysiology, Diagnoses, Management. https://psychscenehub.com/psychinsights/postpartum-psychosis-review/