The nature of affective components seen in relation to tinnitus suffering was investigated in 70 patients consulting at an audiological clinic. They were interviewed and answered the Spielberger's State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI). It was hypothesized that an anxious and depressed mood might be a sign of a serious psychiatric illness and, therefore, diagnostic interviews including the Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), Axis II (personality) disorders (SCID-II), the BDI, the Montgomery A?sberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the Hopelessness Scale (HS), as well as biomedical tests, were conducted in a subgroup of 18 individuals. Fifty per cent (two women and seven men) were diagnosed as suffering from a personality disorder. No significant relationships were revealed when various biochemical markers were analysed. One and a half years later, 16 subjects were interviewed a third time and answered the STAI and the BDI. There was a clear trend in the data showing that patients having a personality disorder did not change their distress profile from the first to the third period of assessment. In these patients, a vicious circle caused by pronounced intolerance to life stress seems to operate in a more serious way than in patients who do not suffer from a personality disorder. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.