What are postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis?published at 15:26 BST
15:26 BST
Media caption,
What is postpartum psychosis and why is it central in the Lindsay Clancy trial?
Postpartum psychosis has become a key focus of the Clancy trial.
Her defence argues she was suffering from it when she killed her children, while prosecutors argue she acted deliberately.
Those who have just given birth can experience a range of psychiatric conditions, the most serious and life-threatening of which is postpartum psychosis.
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) defines postpartum psychosis as a rare, serious mental health illness that should be treated as a medical emergency.
Those who have it can experience mania and depression as well as psychotic symptoms, such as delusions and a disconnection from reality. In rare, severe cases, they may harm or kill themselves or other people.
In the US, a major barrier to awareness and treatment of postpartum psychosis is that it remains unclassified in American medicine’s encyclopaedia of psychiatry.
Postpartum psychosis is very different from postpartum blues, sometimes referred to as the “baby blues”, which affects around 85% of people who give birth and typically involves difficulty controlling emotions such as anxiety, sadness and anger, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Postpartum depression, meanwhile, is more serious than postpartum blues, with patients feeling many of the same symptoms but more intensely and for a longer period of time.