clinical depression

American  

noun

1. Psychiatry. a depression so severe as to be considered abnormal, either because of no obvious environmental causes, or because the reaction to unfortunate life circumstances is more intense or prolonged than would generally be expected.

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Example Sentences

Los Angeles and Tucson, Ariz. Despite many close friendships, especially with women, he was at heart a loner, conditioned, possibly, by clinical depression, for which he sought electroshock therapy even though it addled his brain.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Mr. Macmillan doesn’t lose sight of the central truths about clinical depression: that the causes are often inscrutable, its persistence can be intractable, and temporary relief often leads only to recurrence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

She believes she was targeted by him because of her mental health issues, which at the time included clinical depression and Tourettes.

From BBC • Sep. 30, 2025

And we found that the walk in nature was actually more beneficial to participants suffering from clinical depression than it was for our nonclinical samples.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2025

At the time, I had no knowledge of the grief process, clinical depression, or survivor’s guilt syndrome.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry