Joined wife at home, beset by recurrent depression (7)
I believe the answer is:
twinned
'joined' is the definition.
(twinning is a kind of joining)
'wife at home beset by recurrent depression' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'at home' becomes 'in' ('I'm in' can mean 'I'm at home').
'beset by' indicates putting letters inside ('beset' could historically mean 'cover').
'recurrent' says the letters should be written in reverse (recurrent can mean turning back).
'depression' becomes 'dent' (synonyms).
'dent' back-to-front is 'tned'.
'w'+'in'='win'
'win' going within 'tned' is 'TWINNED'.
(Other definitions for twinned that I've seen before include "Some towns are" , "Similarly connected" , "Enjoying a link" , "Coupled together" , "(Of town) linked to another overseas" .)