Weirdly, I'm better at dealing with real world, now-this-minute fears -- like steep skli slopes, or dentists or first day in a new job -- than I am with the nebulous ones, like 'what if someone is hurt by my writing' or 'if the plane is late will people be angry'. The former *have* to be faced; the latter are in the realm of magical thinking -- I should have been able to avoid them by being a better person or some such.
I'm sorry you had those 5 years: I hope they're over now.