TMJ Help Program

School starting, kids, dinner, work, bills and just life in general are all enough to make anyone’s head spin. Just thinking about what’s on a to-do list can produce a full-blown migraine.

A community mini-med school seminar on stress entitled – “All Stressed Up and No Place To Go” – will be conducted by Dr. Rosemarie Cannarella, M.D., M.P.H., assistant dean for student services WVU Harpers Ferry Family Medicine and Jefferson Memorial Hospital staff member, and Rebecca McDonald, Ph,D., an advanced nurse practitioner in private practice. The seminar is sponsored by the WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center Eastern Division and West Virginia University Hospitals-East City Hospital and Jefferson Memorial Hospital and is open to the public. The lecture is free and registration begins at 6:30 p.m. with the seminar starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. James Catholic Church.

A 2007 American Psychological Association pole reports one in three adults say they feel extreme stress. According to a 2004 survey performed by the APA, 73 percent of Americans say money is the main cause affecting their stress level, one in four workers say they have taken a mental health day off from work to cope with stress and 54 percent of workers say they are concerned about health problems caused by stress.

Carol Joseph, coordinator of physician and community education for City Hospital, says that Cannarella and McDonald will address all stress-related issues. She says, “They will give techniques for physically and mentally controlling stress.” Cannarella will discuss the medical effects of stress on the body and McDonald will address calming issues, says Joseph.

Joseph also says that light refreshments will be served following the program and attendees will have an opportunity to speak to each lecturer. “Not everyone is comfortable asking questions in a crowd,” Joseph says.

When you are stressed, your body responds as though you are in danger, she says. This is called the fight-or-flight stress response. The body makes hormones that speed up your heart, make you breathe faster and give you a burst of energy. Although the fight-or-flight response may be necessary in some instances, like running to the aid of an injured child, when this stress is prolonged, it can be dangerous to your health and overall well-being.

Walter Cannon, a neurologist, introduced the flight-or-flight term and was the first to recognize that stressors could be either emotional or physical.

Scientist Hans Selye was the first to use the word “stress,” which is a term he adopted from physics and engineering, defined as “mutual actions of forces that take place across any section of the body, physical or psychological.” He believed that an excess of stress could be potentially harmful and damage the body.

Stress can be linked to headaches, gastrointestinal upset, back pain, trouble sleeping and either a loss of appetite or stress-eating.

Stress can weaken your immune system, making it harder to fight off disease. Joseph says statistics show that 66 percent of all illnesses are related to stress. And if you already have a health problem, stress may make it worse.

According to Webmd.com stress can make you moody, tense or depressed. Your relationships may suffer, and you may not do well at work or school.

Other than stress affecting the heart, blood pressure, gastrointestinal function and the immune system, the American Dental Association says stress and anxiety can cause teeth grinding and jaw clenching (bruxism) which can lead to fractures in the teeth and result in tooth loss.

MedicineNet.com says that stress is a part of life. Stress has always been around and will always be around. In order to appropriately deal with stress, a person needs to manage their physical and psychological responses to stressors.

MedicineNet.com also says that while there are promising treatments for stress, the management of stress most depends on a person’s willingness to make healthy lifestyle changes. These changes may include adding physical activity, such as an exercise program, changing eating or drinking habits and not only learning about, but utilizing stress reducing techniques, such as yoga or meditation.