&NA;The authors review studies of dopaminergic agents in affective disorder patients. Although evidence from cerebrospinal fluid studies, from the pharmacology of the antidepressants, and from several clinical trials implicates the dopamine system in the regulation of mood or activity level, as yet, no replicated study shows that affective disorder patients are different from normals in their neuroendocrine response to the dopaminergic agents L‐dopa and apomorphine. Some possible reasons for this apparent normality of neuroendocrine response are discussed.