clinical depression

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 : major depression, major depressive disorder

Mild depression is a normal condition, a sadness brought on by life's circumstances. Clinical depression, on the other hand, is a sadness so deep that it can lead to suicide if left untreated.

—Brenda Lane Richardson

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat elected in November, made a stunning admission in mid-February when his office said was taking a leave from the Senate to seek treatment for clinical depression. —Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Apr. 2023

Fetterman had checked in six weeks prior to be treated for clinical depression. —Steven P. Dinkin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Apr. 2023

The senator is also expected to be joined Monday in his return by another senator, Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman, who is slated to return after being treated for clinical depression. —Chuck Todd, NBC News, 14 Apr. 2023

Fetterman, who was out for a month after checking himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment for clinical depression, plans to return to the Senate next week. —Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Apr. 2023

John Fetterman: The Democrat of Pennsylvania checked out of a hospital six weeks after having admitted himself to be treated for clinical depression. —Julian E. Barnes, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2023

The contents of that briefcase encompass the majority of Fetterman’s connection to the outside world these days, as the first-term Democrat from Pennsylvania finishes his third week in the hospital being treated for severe clinical depression. —Annie Karni, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2023

What is clinical depression? —John Williamson, Fortune Well, 2 Mar. 2023

ESPNThe Washington Post 7 Sen. John Fetterman discharged from hospital after treatment for depression Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) was discharged from the hospital on Friday after being treated for clinical depression, his office said. —Justin Klawans, The Week, 1 Apr. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

clinical depression

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 : major depression, major depressive disorder

Cases of clinical depression present doctors with a nasty diagnostic challenge: The malady, which strikes about 10% of the population, comes in myriad forms, each requiring different treatments.

—Science