Virginia starts to languish and experience depression (4)

I believe the answer is:

vale

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'depression' is the definition.
(I know that vale is a type of depression)

'virginia starts to languish and experience' is the wordplay.
'virginia' becomes 'va' (US state abbreviation).
'starts to' indicates taking the first letters.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'experience' becomes 'e' (this might be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
The first letter of 'languish' is 'l'.
'va'+'l'+'e'='VALE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for vale that I've seen before include "Valley" , "Glen; goodbye!" , "'''Sweet ... of Avoca, how calm could I rest'' (Moore) (4)'" , "Trough between ridges" , "Maida -, N. London area; farewell (archaic)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.