Social and situational stressors were categorized for 172 patients who received one of the following diagnostic labels: schizophrenic reaction, depressive reaction, personality disorder, or transient situational personality disorder. The frequency of occurrence of these stress factors were evaluated for a 2-year period prior to the request for psychiatric intervention. The results indicated that there were no differences among diagnostic groups with respect to the average number of stressors experienced during this period. It was also found that specific diagnostic patterns were unrelated to specific antecedent stressors. It was suggested that social and situational stressors have generalized effects which may be expressed in varying symptomatology depending on the characteristics of the individual under stress.