Depressed, shy academic bored by wife (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
cast down
'depressed' is the definition.
(cast down can mean depressed or downbeat)
'shy academic bored by wife' is the wordplay.
'shy' becomes 'cast' (both can mean to throw).
'academic' becomes 'don' (type of academic - especially at Oxbridge).
'bored by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (to bore something can mean to drill into it).
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'don' placed around 'w' is 'down'.
'cast'+'down'='CAST DOWN'
(Other definitions for cast down that I've seen before include "disheartened" , "in need of encouragement" , "Sadden" , "result of fewer actors getting parts?" , "Dishearten" .)