Alyssa Milano was inspired by the ongoing Lindsay Clancy trial to re-share her own struggles with postpartum anxiety that led to her admission to a psych ward.
On her Substack, the “Charmed” star reshared an essay she first wrote for Time back in 2018 that detailed her own personal postpartum struggles. Milano explained at the top that while her experiences and Clancy’s are different, it still felt important to share the mental toll giving birth can have on a mother.
“Postpartum anxiety and postpartum psychosis are different conditions, and my experience is not Lindsay Clancy’s,” she wrote. “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.”
Milano’s essay recounts how her postpartum anxiety set in following the birth of her son Milo in 2011. Despite laying out birth plans, she had to have a C-Section 10 days before the expected date due to complications. Her anxieties followed shortly after their hospital leave.
“That first night, after we returned from the hospital, I suffered my first anxiety attack,” Milano said. “I felt like I had already disappointed my child. I felt like I failed as a mother, since I was not able to give birth vaginally or nourish him with the breast milk that had not come in yet. My heart raced. My stomach seized up. I felt like I was dying.”
Things got better until her son got sick right before she was scheduled to return to work and shoot a TV show. Milano wrote that like many working moms she was struck with guilt for leaving her child during the day and “like many others who suffer from anxiety, my pain was not taken seriously.”
“Every day, I would drive to work and think about all the ways that Milo could die in the hands of his caretakers,” Milano said. “Every night, after working 16-hour days, after I was finally able to hold my child and put him to sleep, my day’s anxiety would culminate into a debilitating anxiety attack.”
She added: “Finally, I hit a wall. One early morning, I went to the emergency room at 2:00 AM, asked for a psychiatrist and got help. I felt as though I had no choice: I asked to be committed; I stayed in a public psychiatric ward for three days.”
Clancy is currently on trial for the 2023 murder of her three young kids. She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and her lawyers have claimed Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis when the murders occured.
“Here’s the thing about mental illnesses: you don’t always look sick, and the answers are not always clear or black-and-white,” Milano added. “But we should not confront these challenges by placing more hurdles in front of Americans who desperately need the care. 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?”
She finished: “Let’s rededicate ourselves to talking about mental health. Let’s demand that our lawmakers pass policies that open — not restrict — our access to mental health services. Let’s remind each other that no one should have to face these challenges by themselves. And if you see me on the street, please come tell me that I am not alone.”
