Itunes and Safari are not responding

When I open my iTunes, all that I have been getting is the dark grey bulletin board pattern that sort of "backdrops" full screen applicaitons. If I go to Finder and Force Quit, iTunes is noted in the Force Quit list as "not responding". This also is happening with Safari. However, I can open Safari and it will load the first page that I am on. If I attempt to go to a different web address, Safari will also become non-responsive and will not load the page. Instead, the web page area of Safari just goes white and the web search bar in stalled in the middle of the "http" in the address. Safari also at this time is marked as "not responding" in Force Quit.

I have tried restarting my computer and shutting it down and turning it back on as well as turning off Wi-Fi for a few minutes, logging out of my account, and reselecting the MacIntosh HD hard drive by holding the "option" key during system start-up. Nothing seems to work

Please help! I don't want to have to take this to a computer specialist for system diagnosis and possible reboot!