Alyssa Milano Says 'Debilitating' Postpartum Anxiety Attacks Landed Her 3 Days in Psychiatric Ward as Lindsay Clancy Trial Sparks Reckoning

Alyssa Milano opened up about the frightening postpartum anxiety attacks that ultimately led her to spend three days in a psychiatric ward.

The actress, 53, is revisiting her experience as the Lindsay Clancy trial puts renewed attention on the devastating consequences of untreated maternal mental illness.

Milano reshared an essay she originally wrote for TIME in 2018 on her Substack this week, explaining why Clancy's trial prompted her to revisit her experience.

"As the Lindsay Clancy trial forces a new national reckoning with postpartum mental illness and with what can happen when women ask for help but still fall through the cracks, it feels important to share it again," she wrote.

Milano was careful to distinguish her experience from Clancy's case, adding, "Postpartum anxiety and postpartum psychosis are different conditions, and my experience is not Lindsay Clancy's."

Clancy is accused of murdering her three young children at her Massachusetts home in 2023.

She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Her lawyer has argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time of the murders.

"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," the Charmed actress continued.

Milano previously revealed her postpartum depression was likely triggered by generalized anxiety disorder after she welcomed her son, Milo, in 2011.

She recalled experiencing her first anxiety attack on the family's first night home from the hospital after delivering Milo by C-section.

At the time, she felt she had already "failed" her newborn because she had not given birth v-------- and was not producing b----- milk.

"My heart raced. My stomach seized up. I felt like I was dying," Milano wrote.

When she returned to work, Milano said she felt "overwhelmed by guilt for leaving my son."

"And like many others who suffer from anxiety, my pain was not taken seriously," the actress explained.

When she headed into work, Milano would "think about all the ways that Milo could die in the hands of his caretakers."

"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 detailed.

As her postpartum anxiety became increasingly difficult to manage, Milano eventually reached a point where she knew she needed immediate professional help.

Milano "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," she added.

The actress also reflected, "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?"