This depends;
There are multiple different meanings to the word desperate;
1 - The feeling involving hopelessness in a situation that is extremely bad or impossible to deal with
(EXAMPLE: The woman had a desperate sadness overcome her)
2 - An attempt to fix something while in despair because everything else failed; usually having a no more than a sliver of hope and success
(EXAMPLE: He drank his problems away in a desperate attempt to fix his life)
3 - A situation that is extremely dangerous, awful, rough, serious, etc...
(EXAMPLE: There was a desperate lack of doctors)