We may experience existential dread when we confront mortality, isolation, and loss of meaning.

Music therapy has demonstrated efficacy in managing intense emotions such as anxiety and depression.

Music allows us to feel authentic and vulnerable as we explore existential dread in a controlled environment.

Music can help us recognize that existential dread can be a source of connection rather than isolation.

Existential dread is a deep sense of sadness and even terror that can arise when we struggle to understand our existence, such as our mortality, feelings of isolation, and a perceived lack of meaning in our lives. Because existential dread can be so intense, we may avoid or suppress our feelings, which often worsens rather than improves our dread. Further, we may be hesitant to seek support for fear of being stigmatized for struggling with our mental health. As a result, we often fall into a spiral of avoidance and isolation, with no real answers as to how to understand and cope with this dread.

In these moments, when we feel alone and trapped, many people turn to music. Music is often the first place where we learn to experience and understand our feelings. And research indicates that engagement with music, particularly in the form of music therapy, can help us manage a range of painful emotional experiences.

How can music help us manage our existential dread? For many of us, music empathically reflects the depths........

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