title: Comorbidity between post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder: alternative explanations and treatment considerations.
abstract: Approximately half of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also suffer from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The current paper examines evidence for two explanations of this comorbidity. First, that the comorbidity reflects overlapping symptoms in the two disorders. Second, that the co-occurrence of PTSD and MDD is not an artifact, but represents a trauma-related phenotype, possibly a subtype of PTSD. Support for the latter explanation is inferred from literature that examines risk and biological correlates of PTSD and MDD, including molecular processes. Treatment implications of the comorbidity are considered.
authors.affiliation: James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Janine D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Flory
authors.affiliation: James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA ; Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yehuda
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000473:pathology; D059906:Neuroimaging; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000473:pathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: FKBP5; MOD; PTSD; comorbidity; glucocorticoid receptor