What is postpartum psychosis?published at 14:16 BST
14:16 BST
Media caption,
What is postpartum psychosis and why is it central in the Lindsay Clancy trial?
The central question of Clancy’s trial was whether or not she was criminally responsible at the time of her children’s deaths.
Prosecutors say she acted intentionally, while the defence argued that the 36-year-old mother was in the grip of severe postpartum psychosis and could not understand the consequences of her actions at the time.
In part, this case centres around this rare, but severe, condition. With postpartum psychosis, patients can experience mania and depression, as well as psychotic symptoms like delusions. In rare cases, people experiencing the condition may harm or kill themselves or other people.
But unlike postpartum depression, it is not classified in the DSM-5 – the main guide that US medical practitioners use to diagnose mental health conditions.
The absence of a clear, standardised DSM-5 definition of postpartum psychosis meant that the defence struggled to show Clancy’s psychotic state met a specific criteria.