[alephnerd]

The formal and traditional definition of a recession means a regression in GDP growth.

Economic malaise is orthogonal to the technical definition of a recession, though it is often correlated. And conversely, economic growth isn't always correlated with positive feelings (eg. South Korea and Canada in the 2010s)

[mcmcmc]

This is not really true. Consumer confidence has a direct impact on GDP in terms of consumption. Lower confidence = lower consumption. Other components of GDP (Investment, Government spending, Net exports) can increase at the same time which can result in no net change, or even positive growth despite decreases in consumer spending. But saying consumer confidence (ie consumption) has no correlation with GDP is incorrect. This is basic macroeconomics.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/fundamental/103002.asp