major 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 : clinical depression, major depressive disorder

Episodes of major depression usually last several months and may recur throughout a lifetime.

—The Harvard Mental Health Letter

Psychiatrists have found that among distinguished artists, the rates of manic depression and major depression are 10 to 30 times as prevalent as in the population at large.

—Natalie Angier

Examples of major depression in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Of the nearly 9 million people with major depression in the United States who have tried pharmaceuticals, 2.8 million are estimated to be resistant to multiple antidepressants. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024

The product of decades of research, TMS is approved by the FDA to treat major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and cigarette addiction. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 14 Sep. 2024

Arguably major depression has more consistent biomarkers than any of the others. —Patrick Skerrett, STAT, 3 Aug. 2024

According to last report, more than 120,000 children with major depression — a number that trumps Green Bay's entire population — went without treatment through 2020. —Natalie Eilbert, Journal Sentinel, 30 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

major 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 : clinical depression, major depressive disorder