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
Brenda Lane RichardsonExamples of clinical depression in a Sentence
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Mood stabilizing medication is crucial for certain patients, particularly those with clinical depression and anxiety or those who have struggled with mental health prior to the menopausal transition.
—Carmen Rios, Flow Space, 14 May 2025
Elsewhere in the interview, Middleton spoke about being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and clinical depression in late 2017 after having suicidal thoughts.
—Becca Longmire, People.com, 12 May 2025
Some of the votes Fetterman was absent for were due to a six-week hospital stay in 2023 to treat clinical depression.
—Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 10 May 2025
Alice has clinical depression, maybe other comorbidities, and those are exacerbated not just by her workload, but by her department’s longstanding and long-internalized misogyny that even the strongest magick can’t fix.
—Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2025
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Carmen Rios, Flow Space, 14 May 2025
Elsewhere in the interview, Middleton spoke about being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and clinical depression in late 2017 after having suicidal thoughts.
—Becca Longmire, People.com, 12 May 2025
Some of the votes Fetterman was absent for were due to a six-week hospital stay in 2023 to treat clinical depression.
—Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 10 May 2025
Alice has clinical depression, maybe other comorbidities, and those are exacerbated not just by her workload, but by her department’s longstanding and long-internalized misogyny that even the strongest magick can’t fix.
—Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for clinical depression
Cite this Entry
“Clinical depression.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clinical%20depression. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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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
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