Fifty-six adult females with DSM-III bulimia were evaluated for personal and family histories of other psychopathologies. Forty-three subjects (77%) evidenced mild depression of which 13 (23%) reported moderate-severe symptoms by the Beck Depression Inventory--a finding confirmed with Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the SCL-90-D scale. A personal history of affective disorder was found in 52%, while 59% reported first degree relative(s) with affective disorder. Subjects with first-degree relatives with drug dependence, alcoholism, or depression had an earlier onset of bulimia than those without such relatives. Bulimia may be symptomatically or pathophysiologically related to depression.