Not necessarily - but then tmj is often used to broadly genreralize most facial and jaw related pain. Most medical drs and some tmj drs I have been to feel tmj can occur periodically such as in a flareup and then subside on its own. Some drs feel the body adapts or makes subtle changes on its own to heal itself and resolve the problem - and repeats the pattern as needed. This is why some drs may tell you to take a wait and see approach initially and not opt to do any treatment - in hopes that the body will correct itself.

Some drs feel however that left untreated tmj can progress and that is what causes the recurrent flareups until they are flareups no longer and the symptoms become chronic.

The fact that you have noticed your symptoms are related to stress or result and/or flareup from an increase in stress could be that you are experiencing tmd or dysfunction related to muscle fatigue resulting from the stress. Or it could be related to the c-spine which can also cause similar symptoms - another area often affected by stress. Eliminating or learning to deal or cope with the stress differently may be the answer or finding ways to relieve the stress such as in meditation, biofeedback, exercise, etc. For some - wearing a nightguard during stressful periods is all that is needed.

I wish I could be be more definitive but there seems to be so many varying opinions regarding the subject - at least based on what I have read and have been told by drs.

One dr told me almost 99% of all people have some form of tmd/tmj or have had some symptoms or episodes, even though they may not be aware of it and its only a small percentage of people that need to have it treated, although I am not sure how accurate the statetment is.