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It's no wonder most people hadn't heard much about postpartum psychosis until it entered the news ecosystem in tragic fashion this year with the Lindsay Clancy case. Despite its severity, the illness isn't recognized as a standalone category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)—the guidebook published by the American Psychiatric Association for classifying everything from anxiety and depression to obsessive-compulsive and trauma-related disorders.

Psychiatrists aren't required to learn about it—or any mental health disturbances surrounding childbirth—as part of their residency training. Research into the condition remains limited and underfunded.

Postpartum psychosis is rare, occurring in one to two of every 1,000 births. But it can have serious consequences if left untreated. In extreme cases, patients suffering from paranoia, delusions and hallucinations can harm themselves or their children. Symptoms usually set in three to 10 days after birth, after women have already left the hospital.

"It's critical that people receive psychiatric treatment as quickly as possible if they develop this, because it can escalate so quickly," said Mariella Suleiman, M.D., a psychiatrist specializing in reproductive mental health conditions and a clinical assistant professor at Stanford Medicine.

Suleiman has researched evidence-based approaches to managing bipolar disorder during and after pregnancy and advocated for reproductive psychiatry to become a requirement in psychiatric residencies. We asked her for the key things to know about postpartum psychosis and how to look for and react to warning signs.

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