Stage fright, existential angst, pre-exam nervousness, or simply general pressure to perform well—music and anxiety are related in all kinds of ways.

“I’m afraid of…” isn’t necessarily something that’s easy to say. But even so, we all know it: anxiety. Anxieties—along with bouts of their more immediate cousin, fear—accompany many of us our whole lives long. Some of these we succeed in overcoming, while others we might even turn out to need a bit, and still others seem impossible to shake.

Ulrike Demal is a clinical psychologist and a psychotherapist and provides mdw Magazine with a basic overview of anxiety and fear.

Using Music Therapy to Treat Anxiety Disorders

There exists virtually no form of human fear or anxiety that hasn’t at some point been employed in thrillers or horror movies.