The Lindsay Clancy Lawsuit And The Dangers Of Psychiatric Polypharmacy

I know what it feels like to be afraid of your own mind.

As a mother and therapist, I have experienced firsthand how frightening psychiatric medication effects and withdrawal can be. During my own taper, I experienced severe akathisia and intrusive thoughts so terrifying that I was afraid to be in the car driving my children. I love my children. I didn't want those thoughts. But my brain and nervous system were in a state I barely recognized. I didn’t feel safe.

That is one reason the Lindsay Clancy case has stayed with me. I don't claim to know exactly what happened inside Lindsay's mind, but I believe we have to ask more than, What was her diagnosis? Or make claims that “she is a monster - what kind of mother would do that.” We have to ask, What happened to her?

According to the documented timeline discussed in the civil lawsuit, Lindsay and her family repeatedly sought help as her symptoms escalated from severe insomnia and anxiety to dissociation, intrusive thoughts, and eventually command hallucinations. During this time, psychiatric medications were started, stopped, increased, and switched.

That matters because psychiatric medication effects, akathisia, withdrawal, interactions, and polypharmacy can produce or intensify frightening psychiatric symptoms. We cannot automatically assume every new symptom means the underlying illness is getting worse.

The postpartum period makes this even more important. New mothers are navigating major hormonal changes, sleep deprivation, physical recovery, and enormous psychological stress. Yet postpartum mental healthcare can be fragmented, with different providers treating different pieces of the story without anyone seeing the whole picture.

As a mother who has experienced frightening medication-related symptoms, I keep coming back to the feeling of helplessness. When a mother says, "Something is wrong," we need to listen. We need to look at the entire picture and not just the diagnosis.

In the newest episode of The Gaslit Truth Podcast, Dr. Teralyn Sell and I examine the Lindsay Clancy case, postpartum mental health, psychiatric polypharmacy, akathisia, medication withdrawal, and the patient-safety questions this tragedy raises.

This isn't about being anti-psychiatry. It's about being pro-patient, pro-informed consent, pro-mother, and willing to ask difficult questions.

Sometimes the most important question isn't "What's wrong with this person?"

It's "What happened to this person?"