Depressed, on occasion, in inactive period (8)
I believe the answer is:
downtime
'period' is the definition.
(I know that downtime is a type of period)
'depressed on occasion' is the wordplay.
'depressed' becomes 'down' (synonyms).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'occasion' becomes 'time' (I've seen this in another clue).
'down'+'time'='DOWNTIME'
'in inactive' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for downtime that I've seen before include "while doing nothing" , "Unproductive hours" , "Period when computer is out of action" .)