Hopelessness I spread about (7)
I believe the answer is:
despair
'hopelessness' is the definition.
(despair is a kind of hopelessness)
'i spread about' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates an anagram.
'i'+'spread'='ispread'
'ispread' with letters rearranged gives 'DESPAIR'.
(Other definitions for despair that I've seen before include "Total loss of hope" , "State of having lost all hope" , "Feeling of hopelessness" , "sort of counsel?" , "Resignation" .)