Dr. Phil Urges Focus on Victims Amid Lindsay Clancy Trial

Dr. Phil McGraw weighed in on the Lindsay Clancy trial this Saturday, speaking just one day after a judge declared a mistrial because the jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict regarding the deaths of her three children. The mother admitted strangling Cora, who was five, Dawson, who was three, and Callan, who was eight months old, to death in 2023, yet her defense team claims she suffered from postpartum psychosis at the time. They argue she wasn't in control of her actions when she killed them. McGraw told Fox News anchor Aishah Hasnie on "Fox News Live" that these three innocent children are the real folks we need to give our attention to here. Three young lives were lost, and you can never explain situations like this away simply with easy words. He said it also concerns him when mental illness gets depicted in a courtroom setting, becoming kind of a political football used to skew something or debunked by another side rather than looking at what actually took place. McGraw stressed that there eventually will be accountability in the case. Even if she is not found criminally responsible, she is not going home. She is going to have to live with this the rest of her life and probably in a psychiatric facility if she is indeed not guilty by reason of mental defect or disease. He noted people underestimate the power of psychosis in taking over someone's life. It is not an excuse, but if she had a brain tumor visible on an X-ray, people would go OK I get that. When you have what took place here, it could be just as powerful as someone whose brain is hijacked by a tumor. He stated he is not excusing what she did in any way and thinks she should be held fully accountable but we need to understand causation. The prosecution made a pretty clunky presentation according to McGraw who added he felt they got their act together in the end. I have spent a lot of my professional career working in trial sciences and dealing with juries looking for a coherent explanation. He explained the defense's explanation was much more understandable and much more coherent than what the prosecution did. McGraw also worried that the case could cause a copycat effect. We certainly don't want that to take place here so we need to look at what the cultural effects are. There is a huge difference between postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis he stressed. Postpartum psychosis is a psychiatric emergency that requires immediate hospitalization. It is not a time to adjust medications or schedule an extra appointment during the week. It is a psychiatric emergency requiring in-patient care and separation from the children immediately, not tomorrow morning or afternoon. He called Clancy's case a psychiatric emergency that wasn't treated as such. It is one thing to use the case as a teachable moment for the country but another for people to raise her up as some kind of heroine. There is nothing to be celebrated here according to him. If there is any lesson to be taken for our culture it is that there was a failure here. This was a woman who asked for help and admitted herself to the hospital, but McGraw asks if that was enough. The jury tends to get it right he said explaining they were headed toward committing her for a long period of time. I think people need to understand that mental illness is a serious issue. He added he was worried people would forget about Cora Dawson and Callan. I hate we are focusing everywhere except there he said. And while there are a lot of fingers to point at now is not the time to do that.

We have to settle this legal matter first, then pull back and ask what we can actually take away from it. Dr. McGraw put numbers on the rarity of situations like Clancy's case, noting they happen roughly one or two times out of a thousand. That sounds small until you realize that even a single instance is too many. He called this kind of tragedy avoidable.

There was a push to download the Fox News app right in the middle of the report. McGraw wants people to look at the warning signs visible in Clancy's story and memorize them so mothers can spot trouble before they drown under pressure. The goal is simple: use these lessons as an internal guide when help becomes necessary.

He told everyone straight out to reach for assistance immediately. It isn't a sign of weakness, he insisted; it is strength.