09/08/2026
Yep. I deleted this yesterday. And yep, I’m reposting it.
I deleted it because the comments became a pile-on from people who apparently decided that because I don’t share their opinion about Lindsay Clancy, I must not believe in postpartum psychosis or mental illness.
That’s simply not true.
I believe postpartum psychosis is real. I believe mental illness is real. I also believe mental illness should not automatically equal a free pass when someone kills another human being… especially their own children.
The meme is sarcasm. Obviously, I’m not literally comparing postpartum psychosis to Jeffrey Dahmer being hungry. The point is that an explanation for someone’s behavior doesn’t automatically make the behavior excusable.
And that’s the part I refuse to back down from.
Three children died.
Cora. Dawson. Callan.
Somewhere in all the arguments about Lindsay’s diagnosis, medications, state of mind, criminal responsibility and whether people should sympathize with her, I feel like those three little names are getting pushed further and further into the background.
They are the reason I care about this case.
I understand that our legal system recognizes insanity as a defense. I understand that a person can be so mentally ill that a jury determines they weren’t legally responsible for their actions. You can believe that standard applies to Lindsay Clancy.
I don’t have to agree with you.
And yes, I am deeply uncomfortable with the idea that mental illness by itself becomes a blanket justification for killing your children. I think accountability matters, and I think we should be extremely careful about the message we send when explaining someone’s actions starts sounding indistinguishable from excusing them.
You can disagree with my meme.
You can think it’s insensitive.
You can think my opinion is completely wrong.
That’s fine.
But attacking me isn’t going to make me pretend I believe something I don’t.
Mental illness deserves serious discussion and compassion. But those children deserve a voice too.
Yesterday I let the comments make me delete something I believed.
Today I’m putting it back.