Stress is a part of any person’s life, irrespective of age, and is often linked with a variety of affective disorders and somatic conditions.

The objectives of this study consist in assessing the intensity of stress level, depression, and their relationship with environment and marital status, and also in assessing defense mechanisms employed by patients in psychiatry, cardiology and oncology clinics.

The purpose is to assess stress, depression and coping mechanisms used by the three aforementioned patient groups, and also the correlation between these.

Social Readjusment Rating Scale, Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale and Defense Mechanisms Assessment Scale were employed in 60 patients.

91.7% of assessed patients go through a life crisis, while 88.4% of them present with various levels of depression; stress levels and depression appear to be higher in patients from psychiatric clinics, and in those from an urban environment. Widowed subjects present with higher levels of depression, compared with divorced and married ones, in the groups of psychiatric and oncology patients.

Patients with medical conditions mostly go through a moderate life crisis and present with mild depression, while those with mood disorders go through major life crisis and present with moderate depression. Denial is the defense mechanism mostly employed by both patient groups; psychiatric and oncology patients use denial, while cardiology ones employ repression.