The authors administered the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) to 47
inpatients on a clinical, nonresearch psychiatric unit who had been
diagnosed according to DSM-III. Of the 30 patients with major depression,
23 (77%) exhibited nonsuppression (serum cortisol concentrations greater
than 5 micrograms/dl); only 1 of the 17 patients with other diagnoses and
depressive symptoms exhibited nonsuppression. There was no difference in
the rate of nonsuppression between the patients with subgroups of major
depression, but those with major depression and psychosis had significantly
higher postdexamethasone cortisol levels than those with major depression
with and without melancholia and those with diagnoses other than major
depression.Abstract Teaser