The tragedy of Lindsay Clancy and her three children has struck a chord with many across the country. On Jan. 24, the mother of three allegedly strangled her children in her Massachusetts home after her husband left to pick up medicine and food. The events of that day, as well as the days leading up to it, paint a heartbreaking picture of a mother struggling with anxiety and depression, and a family desperately trying to help her.
Just that morning, Lindsay Clancy had taken her 5-year-old daughter Cora to the pediatrician, where medical staff noticed nothing out of the ordinary about her behavior. After returning home, she built a snowman with Cora and 3-year-old Dawson, texting photos to her mother and her husband. But when Patrick Clancy left the house, the day took a horrifying turn.
It was later revealed that Lindsay Clancy had been struggling with depression and anxiety since the birth of her son Callan in May. Her parents and husband were aware of her worsening condition, and even she wrote in her phone that she had a “touch of postpartum anxiety around returning to work” the day before the killings. Despite being evaluated at a Women and Infant Hospital Center for Women’s Behavioral Health in Providence, Rhode Island, she was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.
Lindsay Clancy also checked herself into McLean Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Belmont, Massachusetts, on Jan. 1 after she told her husband in December that she had had thoughts about harming the children. She was discharged from the facility Jan. 5, and appeared to be getting better.
The tragedy of Lindsay Clancy and her three children has become a stark reminder of the importance of mental health awareness and the need for more resources for those suffering from postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis. The prosecutor in the case pointed to an October note in which Lindsay Clancy is alleged to have written: “I think I sort of resent my other children because they prevent me from treating [Callan] like my first baby.”
It’s possible that with more resources and support, this tragedy could have been avoided. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources. The tragedy of Lindsay Clancy and her three children is a reminder that we must continue to fight for better mental health resources, so that no family has to suffer the same fate.
Source: www.nbcnews.com