Ten years ago, Meghan Cliffel was a working mother in New York City.
asserted
Cliffel → work → City
In December 2015, she was back at work, eight months after giving birth to her second girl: "I had taken on a lot of work stress, and not quite feeling like myself, but outwardly, I was functioning well," she said.
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she → give → myself
"And it wasn't until Friday, December 4th of 2015, when things just dramatically changed for me."
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things → change → me
On that day, Cliffel says she began to believe she was being "surveilled."
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she → say → day
"And from that moment on, I am just lost in a totally deluded, terrifying reality, where I believe the entire city is out to get me," she said.
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she → lose → me
Then, she started to hallucinate.
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she → start → ?
"The TV starts to change, and it's the face of a male relative of mine, and then he says, 'If she thinks she's getting out of this alive, she's got another thing coming,'" Cliffel said.
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Cliffel → start → this
As her husband, Colin, remembers, the next morning Meghan's crisis engulfed the whole family: "I felt like I was interacting with a wholly different person," he said.
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he → remember → person
"Her behavior in those, like, acute 12 hours in particular in our apartment was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. …
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I → see → anything
It just became this sort of epic battle where, you know, she is trying to quote/unquote rescue our girls (who are happily in our bedroom playing), and I literally have to have my back up against our bedroom door to try to keep Meghan out.
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I → become → Meghan
And then, just like that she turns around and is trying to get to our apartment door, 'cause she's threatening to go to the roof.
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she → turn → roof
And eventually, you know, I'd say she punches like Mike Tyson, and came out swinging and, you know, clocked me twice."
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you → know → me
Colin called 911, and Meghan spent the next two weeks in Bellevue Hospital, where she was prescribed Lithium.
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she → call → Lithium
It wasn't until two months later that she learned the diagnosis: postpartum psychosis, a severe mental illness.
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she → learn → diagnosis
Dr. Veerle Bergink, a psychiatrist and director for women's health at Mr. Sinai's School for Medicine, has been studying postpartum psychosis for 20 years.
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Bergink → study → years
She says it should not be misunderstood as postpartum depression.
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it → say → depression
Bergink calls postpartum psychosis a "psychiatric emergency," with symptoms that can be extreme: "Mania, racing thoughts, psychosis, losing reality, or depression with psychotic features, being so low that you think everything is your fault, or a mixture of these.
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everything → call → these
And these symptoms occur within a few months after delivery."
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symptoms → occur → delivery
Asked how common are cases where a mother with postpartum psychosis harms herself or her baby, Bergink replied, "Unfortunately, suicide is a major cause of mortality.
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suicide → ask → mortality
Postpartum psychosis was at the center of the trial of Lindsay Clancy, which has riveted the country.
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which → rivet → country
Neither the defense nor the prosecution disputed that Clancy had killed her three children in January 2023.
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Clancy → dispute → January
During the trial, prosecutor Jennifer Sprague argued, "The issue is whether, at the time [Clancy] killed Cora, Dawson and Callan, she knew the difference between right and wrong, and whether she could conform her behavior to the requirements of the law."
uncertain
she → argue → law
But Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, argued that her undiagnosed psychosis rendered her legally insane: "This is a woman who was suffering from psychosis at the time that she went down to that basement.
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she → argue → basement
She had no motive.
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She → have → motive
She loved her children."
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She → love → children
After deliberating for seven days, the jury could not reach a verdict,
.The condition at the center of the trial is considered rare, afflicting an estimated 1 to 2 women per 1,000 births a year in the U.S., potentially affecting up to 9,000 mothers annually, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
uncertain
condition → deliberate → Clinic
Bergink said, "It has been known for thousands of years.
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It → say → years
It has been described, you know, by the ancient Greek, in all cultures, in all times."
Yet, Bergink says there are currently fewer than 10 research groups in the U.S. studying the illness.
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Bergink → describe → illness
"We don't know how to prevent it yet, because there is no research, there is no funding," she said.
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she → know → it
"But then, if you make the diagnosis, we can treat it.
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we → make → it
Ninety-eight percent in our studies really got better within weeks."
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percent → get → weeks
Postpartum psychosis has no single known cause.
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psychosis → have → cause
Symptoms can shift dramatically over days or hours, and mothers may intermittently appear functional – which can confuse their family and clinicians.
uncertain
which → shift → family
Dr. Jennifer Payne, a reproductive psychiatrist and vice chair of research at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, said, "Postpartum psychosis is a much rarer presentation, and many psychiatrists have never seen a case."
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psychiatrists → say → case
Payne hopes the tragic case of Lindsay Clancy will educate the public and the legal system about postpartum psychosis.
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case → hop → psychosis
She notes there has been some change in the nearly 25 years since Andrea Yates was tried for the murder of her five children while suffering from psychosis.
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Yates → note → psychosis
However, Payne said, "I don't think the legal system has progressed to handle postpartum psychosis cases well.
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system → say → cases
I think that there continues to be an amazing amount of stigma surrounding maternal mental health and psychiatric diagnosis."
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I → think → health
Payne said she would like to see, "when it is clear that a patient has had postpartum psychosis and acted on delusions as part of that illness, that that particular case should not progress to a murder trial, and should instead be relegated to a mental health treatment journey."
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case → say → journey
Three years after her recovery, Meghan Cliffel and husband Colin decided to have a third child.
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Cliffel → decide → child
…and 13 more, not listed.
