A Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three children has put a spotlight on a rare condition that mental health advocates say is shrouded in shame, often preventing mothers from seeking treatment.
Postpartum psychosis is an illness in which hallucinations and delusions alter a person’s sense of reality after giving birth, sometimes driving them to harm themselves or their children.
The condition is treatable, but it requires emergency psychiatric care, experts say.
It is not clear whether Lindsay Clancy, the 32-year-old mother from Duxbury, Massachusetts, had postpartum psychosis. Family members did not respond to calls and emails from NBC News on Monday and authorities have not said whether mental health was a factor when she allegedly strangled her kids before attempting to kill herself last week.
According to NBC Boston, Clancy suffered from postpartum depression, a form of depression that can interrupt a mother’s ability to bond with her baby. Postpartum depression affects about 1 in 8 mothers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
It’s one of several mood disorders that can happen after childbirth. Another, postpartum anxiety, causes anxiety so crippling that it disrupts new moms’ ability to function. Estimates of its prevalence vary, with the advocacy organization Postpartum Support International reporting it occurs in 10% of mothers.
Postpartum psychosis is the most extreme mood disorder after having a baby, and it’s also the rarest — happening in 1 or 2 out of every 1,000 deliveries, according to Postpartum Support International. The onset of symptoms is sudden and usually happens within the first few days or weeks after childbirth, though they can show up later.
In addition to hallucinations and delusions, postpartum psychosis symptoms include insomnia, irritability, paranoia, restlessness and rapid mood swings.
Thoughts of self-harm or harming others, particularly one’s children, can also be part of the condition but are…
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