We have found statistically and clinically significant reductions in bone mineral density (BMD) in a group of 24 depressed but otherwise healthy pre-menopausal women, as compared to 24 healthy, closely matched controls. The difference was significant at several trabecular bone sites (e.g., 13.6% at the femoral neck, 13.6% at the Ward's triangle, and 10.8% at the trochanter). Epidemiological studies indicate that losses in trabecular bone mineral density of these magnitudes are associated with an increased lifetime risk for fracture up to 50%.