Cortisol stress response in post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, and major depressive disorder patients

Our main findings provide evidence of a dissociation between the cortisol and ACTH concentrations in response to the TSST in PTSD and in PD patients, independent of comorbid depression. Our results further support overall research findings of a cortisol hypo-responsiveness in PD patients. A hypo-response pattern was also seen in the PTSD patients agreeing with previous finding on the cortisol stress reactivity following TSST stress induction in these patients. Patients with a primary MDD diagnosis showed descriptively higher cortisol concentrations compared to the anxiety patients, and lower cortisol concentrations as the healthy individuals. The limitations of the study and implications for future studies will be discussed.