Actress Alyssa Milano has resurfaced her 2018 essay detailing a stay in a psychiatric ward due to severe postpartum anxiety attacks following the birth of her first child. Milano, 53, shared her experience on Substack this week, drawing parallels to the ongoing trial of Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of murdering her three young children in Massachusetts in 2023.
Clancy has admitted to the killings but her defense claims she was suffering from postpartum psychosis. Milano, while distinguishing her own experience from Clancy's, highlighted the critical need for maternal mental health symptoms to be recognized, believed, and treated promptly. "Postpartum anxiety and postpartum psychosis are different conditions, and my experience is not Lindsay Clancy's," Milano wrote, adding, "But the trial has brought renewed attention to a truth that connects them: maternal mental-health symptoms must be recognized, believed and treated with urgency."
In her 2018 essay for TIME Magazine, Milano described how Generalized Anxiety Disorder likely triggered her postpartum depression. After a miscarriage in 2009, she became pregnant with her son Milo in 2011. The birth via C-section and difficulties with breastfeeding led to her first severe anxiety attack on her first night home from the hospital. She recalled, "My heart raced. My stomach seized up. I felt like I was dying."
As she returned to work, Milano experienced intense guilt for leaving her son and worried constantly about his well-being in the care of others. These anxieties culminated in debilitating anxiety attacks each night after long workdays. At one point, she sought help at an emergency room, was admitted to a public psychiatric ward for three days, and subsequently connected with a psychiatrist and therapist.
Milano noted the privilege of her access to care, stating, "I was lucky enough to have the means and the insurance to get the help and support I needed. What happens to those mothers who don't have the kind of support I received?"
Meanwhile, the trial of Lindsay Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, has brought significant attention to postpartum mental illness. Clancy has pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity, with her legal team asserting postpartum psychosis as a defense. Prosecutors, however, contend that Clancy planned the killings and deliberately arranged for her husband to be out of the house. Clancy is seeking commitment to a state mental health facility, and she is currently paralyzed and uses a wheelchair for life following an alleged suicide attempt after the deaths of her children.
Supporters of Clancy have gathered outside the courthouse, with some expressing concerns about the healthcare system's failures and the stigma surrounding postpartum mental health issues.
Milano also recently paid tribute to actress Hayden Panettiere on Instagram, commending her for speaking openly about issues such as domestic violence, postpartum depression, addiction, and abuse. Milano praised Panettiere's courage and willingness to use her visibility to advocate for causes larger than herself.