major depressive disorder

noun

: a serious mood disorder involving one or more episodes of intense psychological depression or loss of interest or pleasure that lasts two or more weeks and is accompanied by irritability, fatigue, poor concentration, sleep disturbances, weight gain or loss, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and sometimes suicidal tendencies : clinical depression, major depression

About 18 million Americans are diagnosed with a major depressive disorder each year.

—David Schwab

The most serious form of depression is major depressive disorder, characterized by depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, changes in appetite, increased or decreased sleep, increased or decreased motor activity, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, difficulty concentrating and, for some people, recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

—Sandi Lloyd

—abbreviation MDD

Examples of major depressive disorder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Father Who Drove His Family Of 4 Off Cliff Suffered Psychotic Break, Doctors Say Patel was diagnosed with major depressive disorder by experts for the defense team, Dr. James Armontrout and Dr. Mark Patterson, per KRON. —Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 11 May 2024

The psychologist was one of several to diagnose Patel with major depressive disorder, with psychotic features, since the crash. —Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 10 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

major depressive disorder

noun

: a serious mood disorder involving one or more episodes of intense psychological depression or loss of interest or pleasure that lasts two or more weeks and is accompanied by irritability, fatigue, poor concentration, sleep disturbances, weight gain or loss, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and sometimes suicidal tendencies : clinical depression, major depression

The diagnosis of both major depressive disorder and subsyndromal symptoms is complicated by difficulties that elderly patients may have in recognizing or describing depressive symptoms.

—Lawrence M. Martin et al., The John Hopkins White Papers

—abbreviation MDD