Among patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD), more than half of them are encumbered with comorbid anxiety symptoms.1 They represent a more severe form of depression and are often associated with higher morbidity.2 Recovery is more difficult due to a reduced likelihood of response to

The concept of allostatic load (AL) has been known to capture the long-term effects of fluctuating or heightening neural and neuroendocrine responses caused by repeated or chronic environmental stressors.1 Subsequent research elucidated the adaptive responses of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (H