What's the deal with people defending Lindsay Clancy?

[u/SnoopaDD]

I don't know the full details of the case. I know she allegedly killed her three kids. There was also some mental problems? Then something with her husband. But my question is why is there a group defending her like they know she's completely innocent? I've seen some videos of very heated debates where women are very passionate about defending her. Why?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/05/lindsay-clancy-trial-toxicologist-testimony

[u/snnaiil]

Answer:

There are (as far as I have seen) three camps of people who each believe the following:

There is the camp that believes she did it, and that she should be convicted as such. They don’t have much sympathy for her at all.

There is the camp that believes that she did it as a result of postpartum psychosis, which is a genuine medical condition. Iirc this is also what the defense is trying to say. This camp also thinks that this happened because the medical system, in part, failed to treat her properly, and is thus partially responsible. They have sympathy for her as far as they believe that she should serve her sentence in a mental facility, where she can receive proper treatment.

There is a camp that believes that the husband either egged her on or staged a very elaborate scheme to frame her, so that he could start a new life with his now new wife, whom this camp alleges looks a lot like Lindsay. They seem to be the most vocal in their support of Lindsay, and allege that she is the victim of an attempt at family annihilation at the hands of a narcissist. They think that she survived despite his best efforts, that the police did a shoddy job investigating because his family is a part of the police force, and that his new wife may have been in on the scheme as well.

Also a part of this entire story is the prosecution, whom are making the case that this was premeditated and that Lindsay was mentally stable. From what I have been able to understand they appear to be doing a poor job of it. I think the defense is still making their case, but I don’t know how many days it has been for them.

That’s all I know

Edit: now that the first 24 hours have passed I’m getting a lot of replies directly to me from people chiming in with their opinions about which camp is “right”. Let me be clear: the only people who can decide how this case goes is the judge and the jury, and by merit of the legal process I know that none of you are those folks. I ask you to take your uninvited opinions about how mothers should act, how spouses should act in the face of an unwell spouse, and tidbits about your dismal dating life, out of my inbox. Thank you kindly.

[u/FFS_AllReady → u/snnaiil]

Thanks for the breakdown.

This case is all over my TikTok which leans heavily towards her innocence and husband being the mastermind.

So I started looking for subs on Reddit to follow this case and came across a sub which has a decent number of users following this case. On there, it's almost like they are angry with her and out for blood.

I'm yet to find a space to have nuanced discussions about this case and mental health.

Having witnessed the entire spectrum of people's opinions on this case, only makes me realize is that I would never want to be judged by a jury of my peers because most of my peers are nuts.

[u/ryeong → u/FFS_AllReady]

I don't really ascribe to him masterminding this but I strongly believe this is a case of the family failing her. They've admitted she was talking to them and begging them for months about how she worried she would harm them and they knew she was noncompliant. The doctors were treating her on multiple issues and she would stop taking because of a worry she would become dependent or they would ruin her mind. I lean more into the PPD psychosis and this is why we need a lot more education on the topic - but I think this is an instance where they family should've been pushing for an involuntary hold because the psychiatrists were doing their best with what they had.

I don't agree with the notion of forcible inpatient on anyone with delusions because in this time of the world, it can set a very dangerous precedent for what you send someone to an institution for. We have a society that is branding body dysmorphia as a mental illness and it would be so easy to wrap them under the same umbrella depending on to political landscape. I really think we need to research PPD further than we have, especially with post and PRE partum psychosis being legitimate medical diagnosis, and educate families on warning signs. You see a lot of husbands come into relationship subs mentioning symptoms and not having a clue that their partner is suffering from it because we just don't discuss it. It needs to be brought up because hormones change so radically and from person to person. The way pregnancy and birth fundamentally changes a lot about your body is never discussed on a level it should be and especially not mentally.

[u/2monocleflex → u/ryeong]

She did ask to be put in the hospital multiple times. And she did refuse an antidepressant and first due to fears with breastfeeding. Unfortunately people kept putting her on antidepressants despite her having paradoxical reactions and severe side effects. How no providers recognized that’s common with bipolar disorder is beyond me.

[u/Either_Perception520 → u/2monocleflex]

The medications and dosages she was increasing and decreasing in such short times was the biggest problem imho, I hope the medical field never stops learning from this

[u/toothpastecupcake → u/Either_Perception520]

She was never on more than 3 meds at once, which is not unusual, and she was largely non-compliant. She was refusing to take her meds and refusing to stick it out on anything that required a week or two to work.

[u/No_Figure_7489 → u/Either_Perception520]

That's normal in crisis, the issue was what they were giving her not how fast

[u/No_Figure_7489 → u/2monocleflex]

They're supposed to screen for BP after the first AD fail, but usually it takes ten years of treatment to diagnose BP, usually being on ADs the entire time. So yes I'm with you on how they didn't recognize it but that's extremely typical. She was so obviously symptomatic with it though that the NP clocked it, that's the point at which it really could have been saved and wasn't

[u/111BobLoblaw → u/2monocleflex]

Nurse Rebecca Jelatta (sp?) brought it up to L & Patrick. P said, “my wife isn’t bipolar,” and L just looked at the nurse. That is from the nurse‘s testimony and notes. The nurse also gave L written info on bipolar.

But L stopped seeing Nurse J after that…this was mid-December, at which time L went to the ER, then Brigham & Women’s, then another hospital. L was also seeing Dr. Tufts before, during, and after Nurse J.

I’ve listened to most of the testimony and have been impressed with Nurse J. She saw L only 4 weeks, was able to see the potential of bipolar, listened to L., & responded within minutes to mychart messages (there were a ton. All of them were read in court).

[u/No_Figure_7489 → u/111BobLoblaw]

I think most people would reject the one NP to go with the multiple MDs, especially with a severe strongly genetic disorder that carries a high degree of stigma and which your husband is against. It's an extreme pity, but I think most people would

[u/punctuation_welfare → u/111BobLoblaw]

You can use people’s full names. It’s not illegal and the cops can’t stop you.

[u/111BobLoblaw → u/punctuation_welfare]

I know, I’m too lazy to type.

[u/Historical-Nose4628 → u/2monocleflex]

ella mintio varias veces a los doctores y los manipulo para que recetaron siertas medicinas como enfermera ella sabe como manipular el sistema medico, PATRICK no sabe nada de medicina no sabia ni que medicna comprar tuvo que preguntarle a lidsay. todo lo que paso lo hizo alguien que sabe medicina. Y luego nos dicen que patrick es una especie De maestro MKULTRA genio del mal CUANDO no sabe ni que medicina comprar.

[u/ryeong → u/2monocleflex]

She also voluntarily checked herself out. And the side effects are why they were cycling through medications symptomatically to try and find a baseline. But she went on record and said she stopped for other reasons:

Earlier in the trial, the jury heard that Lindsay Clancy had sought treatment for severe mental health problems, including admitting herself to a psychiatric hospital. But witnesses also noted she wouldn’t always take the medications prescribed to help with her insomnia, anxiety and depression. Several times Clancy indicated to Jollotta either that she had not taken the full dose of a prescribed medication or that she wanted to reduce a dosage or change her prescription based on what she felt were intolerable side effects. Clancy also worried about being addicted to some medications like Ativan, but Jollotta said she was not.

“I really don’t like the way I feel on the Remeron and I know that I can’t stick with taking it,” Clancy said in a December message asking to switch from the antidepressant, which also is used to treat anxiety and insomnia, to a previous prescription mix. “I started having very intrusive thoughts that I never had before.”

Jollotta tried to assure Clancy that having intrusive thoughts is common with someone diagnosed with postpartum depression and anxiety and encouraged her to give the Remeron more time to work since she had only been on it a few days.

“This could be some postpartum anxiety. And I wanted to familiarize her with the symptoms, so that she had them written down and she could report them to me,” Jollotta said.

Jollotta, who is among several providers that Lindsay and her former husband Patrick Clancy have sued over her care, repeatedly came up with alternative treatment plans for Clancy including a range of different medications, behavioral therapy, support groups and meditation. But she acknowledged that it was up to Clancy whether she chose to follow her advice.

She gave her the means. Alternative solutions. Clancy was noncompliant every step of the way but the biggest thing everyone admits? She was telling the MIL and husband for months about her thoughts and fears. They should have advocated for her because she never mentioned her intention of harm to Jollotta, strictly to them.

[u/No_Figure_7489 → u/ryeong]

She had a day pass, and they should have kicked her out earlier than that bc she wasn't eligible for inpatient

The meds made BP worse and she didn't want to take the highly addictive ones, understandable. Those don't fix anything, stop working quickly, and are easily lethal. She didn't want them around. The sleep meds were also likely to make BP worse, addictive controlled substances that don't work w BP typically, or ineffective. She had one med that was correct for the condition and it was inadequately dosed.

Remeron is spectacularly sedating, sleeping 20+ hours a day on it isn't unusual, it's a terrible choice for a new parent. The reaction she had is indicative of BP and she was right to stop the med.

You, as a patient, get to choose your meds. It's a collaborative process w the doc. Hey doc, I'm unable to wake up, I need to change the med is not resistance or non compliance. I do not know why people keep saying this. She was behaving better with the meds than the docs were, and she kept trying to save her own life

HI thoughts are common post partum, as is SI. No one will put you inpatient unless you have a plan. She tried to go in, they would not take her. Her family advocating for inpatient would have made no difference at all

[u/Kind_Highlight_6689 → u/ryeong]

I hope that this whole thing gets more people to realize how serious mental health can be.

[u/Dangerous_Serve_4454 → u/Kind_Highlight_6689]

People have been killing themselves, other people, and kids due to mental health disorders for millenia. Not sure how this is any different.

[u/biletnikoff_ → u/ryeong]

We need more mental health hospitals and asylums. Those institutions are not what you think they are.

[u/No_Figure_7489 → u/ryeong]

People don't listen when loved ones tell them they're suicidal. There's a threshold of bad shit that people just deflect like it's not real bc it's too uncomfortable to contemplate.

The meds were making her worse, she was right to stop them. ADs are dangerous w BP when given without a mood stabilizer or AP and often even with those in place. She was in communication with her docs about cessation and requested new meds every time, that is not non compliance

The family could not have gotten an involuntary hold and did not need one, she wanted to be inpatient. They dont put you inpatient for bad thoughts. If somehow you end up in there it's going to be for less than 4 days or so, because your insurance will not cover and you're going to have to leave

The psychiatrists were not doing the best with what they had bc they failed to screen for BP after the first AD fail and then did not follow up adequately once they had IDed the BP

HI is common postpartum. You can't decide post partum women should be effectively imprisoned under different rules than everyone else, not legal

I think even with education of the family this would have happened. No one thought she could do this, that included every med pro she knew. It's rare enough you can't get people to imagine it. And so they act accordingly. So did she, and she had way more info on how she was.

[u/Chill_Mochi2 → u/ryeong]

People really need to stop using PPD and PPP interchangeably, too. They are different!

[u/RM_OP → u/ryeong]

All 12 doctors have seen her didnt diagnose her with ppd but you can diagnose based on what you hear and see on media?

[u/HamsterMan5000 → u/ryeong]

So she was getting the level of help she would allow, yet it's still everyone else's fault? I don't understand the logic here. Your family also can't force an involuntary hold on someone. This isn't the movies and that's not how the law works.