Torment, as I had picked up accent (8)
I believe the answer is:
distress
'torment' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'i had picked up accent' is the wordplay.
'i had' becomes 'id' (common contraction).
'picked up' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'accent' becomes 'stress' (synonyms).
'id' in reverse letter order is 'di'.
'di'+'stress'='DISTRESS'
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for distress that I've seen before include "A strong feeling of anxiety or suffering 98)" , "grief" , "Cause mental pain" , "Severe pain" , "Pressure of pain or sorrow" .)