With closing arguments underway in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, Billy asks Dr. Drew the question now facing the jury: Was Lindsay criminally responsible for killing her three children, or was she experiencing a temporary psychotic episode that left her unable to understand the wrongfulness of what she was doing?
Dr. Drew draws on more than 30 years working in a psychiatric hospital and says the postpartum psychosis cases he encountered were among the most severely psychotic patients he ever treated. He explains the phenomenon of “altruistic filicide,” the critical difference between medical and legal definitions of insanity, and why Lindsay’s reported 18-to-20-minute window of psychosis strikes him as unusual.
The conversation then turns to Lindsay’s treatment.
Dr. Drew examines her complicated medication history, the role of telehealth, the possibility of medication-related symptoms and what he sees as a fundamental problem with American medicine: the disappearance of a primary-care “quarterback” capable of coordinating a patient’s treatment across multiple doctors, hospitals and prescriptions.
Billy and Dr. Drew also debate what justice should look like for Lindsay and whether this case could become a catalyst for a much larger examination of postpartum psychosis, maternal mental health and psychiatric care in America.
Then, the conversation turns to the sudden death of Hayden Panettiere at 36.
Billy, who knew and interviewed Hayden throughout his years in entertainment television, asks Dr. Drew to examine her history through the lens of addiction: postpartum depression, alcohol and substance abuse, treatment and relapse, the loss of custody of her daughter, and her tumultuous relationship with Brian Hickerson.
Dr. Drew explains why medical treatment and relationships can become two enormous relapse risks for someone in recovery and discusses why addiction requires sustained treatment rather than a short-term trip to rehab.
The discussion expands to two other famous men and their very different experiences with sobriety: Charlie Sheen, now eight years sober, and Brad Pitt, who has recently spoken publicly about drinking again. Dr. Drew explains why he considers addiction a progressive disease and why someone who has achieved years of sobriety may still face enormous risk by attempting to drink again.
Finally, Billy asks Dr. Drew what parents should be watching for in their own children — from pornography and social-media addiction to increasingly potent marijuana products and the mental-health consequences he says physicians are seeing.
A candid, provocative conversation about mental illness, addiction, responsibility, recovery and the medical system with one of the most recognizable addiction specialists in America.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.