Psychiatric illness has been observed to be a main cause of disability in undiagnosed adult coeliac disease. A consecutive series of 16 patients with newly detected adult coeliac disease underwent assessment of personality by means of the MMPI. The coeliacs scored high, 70.3 ± 12.5, only on MMPI scale 2 (‘depression’), which was the only significant difference from matched surgical controls. The score correlated 0.66 with daily fat excretion (p < 0.05) but was unrelated to abdominal complaints. The general intellectual level, assessed by the SRB test, was similar in coeliacs and controls. Our results suggest that depressive psychopathology is a feature of adult coeliac disease and may be a consequence of malabsorption.