CRH and major depressive disorder: Proponents of the corticosteroid receptor hypothesis of depression emphasize that a gradual normalization of HPA system dysregulation as measured by the DEX/CRH test precedes or coincides with the response to antidepressant treatment and is a necessary prerequisite for clinical remission to become manifest, whereas persisting COR hypersecretion during the DEX/CRH test at discharge in spite of clinical improvement may be an indicator for an enhanced risk for relapse within the following six months [34], [35].