Hello sinking: I think a lot of this has to do with one's general level of anxiety. I think, over time, anxiety can spread into areas of one's life it may not have greatly affected previously. The more anxious (& fearful) you are in general, the more troublesome it can become.

I have a similar problem. In my case, my anxiety (related to posting & reading posts here on PC) relates to the fact that things I have posted in the past have drawn some mean-spirited replies. I tend to be thin skinned & react poorly to replies such as these. So in order to insulate myself, I seldom post my own Threads & I don't subscribe to any Threads I reply to. That way, even if someone does leave a mean comment on one of my replies, I don't see it. I probably miss out on reading some very nice comments as well. But that's a trade-off I have to accept in order to continue on here.

Anyway, I hope you can find a way to overcome your fear, here on PC. It may be as simple as modifying your settings here on PC, or this may be a sign that your overall levels of anxiety & fear are expanding. If that is the case, then this may be something you'll want to talk about with any mental health professionals you have in your life.