manic depression
Britishnoun
Usage
Though manic depression, manic-depressive are still often used by the general public, they are seen as having negative connotations. The preferred terms nowadays are bipolar disorder and experiencing bipolar disorder
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It used to be known as manic depression, and symptoms include episodes of:
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2024
Miller’s manager, Marnie Sparer, previously told The Times that the Daytime Emmy-winning actor had been “struggling with manic depression when he died,” although no specific cause or manner of death was disclosed at that time.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2023
Years after her diagnosis, and by then on the faculty of Johns Hopkins, she decided to tell the story of her manic depression.
From New York Times • May 22, 2023
He was born in 1910 and developed symptoms of bipolar, once called manic depression, in his early adulthood.
From Slate • Dec. 21, 2022
We can’t go back in time and diagnose him, but from here it looks like a form of epilepsy or, most likely, the beginnings of bipolar disorder, which is also known as manic depression.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.