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The Dexamethasone Suppression Test for Melancholia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Bernard J. Carroll
Bernard J. Carroll*
Affiliation:
Mental Health Research Institute; Acting Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, U.S.A.
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Summary

Melancholia is thought by many investigators to have a biological basis, and biological research, particularly on abnormalities of the neuroendocrine system and of the sleep electroencephalogram, is now beginning to yield results which can help in the differential diagnosis of depressive illness. This review will focus on the most widely studied neuroendocrine disturbance: disinhibition of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal cortex (HPA) system as revealed by the dexamethasone suppression test (DST).

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 140 , Issue 3 , March 1982 , pp. 292 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1982 

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