Abstract Background The years-long COVID-19 pandemic, the proximity of the Russian-Ukrainian war, high inflation, and the economic recession are significant stressors for the Hungarian people. Numerous domestic and international surveys are prepared every year, in which the most stressful professions are ranked. In recent years, based on Hungarian, American and European surveys, teachers and police officers have always been included in the 10 most stressful jobs. They also rank the most valued jobs and highest paid jobs every year. In this relation, police and teaching jobs never made it into the top 10, despite the fact that both professions are very important on a social level. Methods 20 male and 20 female teachers and police officers completed a complex quality of life and psychological assessment using international tests with ethics approval. We measured pain syndromes, such as headache, neck and back pain, joint pain, assessed depression, anxiety, sleep quality, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Results For police officers and teachers, gender differences were not verified with regard to any parameter. None of the parameters differed significantly for male police officers and teachers. Many significant differences were confirmed between female police officers and female teachers, in all of them the results of the teachers were worse: depression (9,4±10,3 vs 2,9±4,3; p = 0.02) anxiety(43,3±12,2 vs 33±4,6; p = 0.01), sleep disorders(32,7±8,2 vs 24,3±7,8; p = 0.01), gastrointestinal complaints(24,7±9,4 vs 17,6±2,3; p = 0.01). Conclusions The sleep quality, depression and anxiety levels of female teachers are worse than those of female police officers who live at least as stressful a life. There is no difference between the mental and psychological state of male teachers and police officers. It is important to pay attention to the mental support of female teachers. Key messages • We consider the assessment of the mental state of police officers and teachers and the creation of primary prevention programs and a mental support network to be an important public health task. • In particular, the mental state of female teachers should be monitored and supported.
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