Fear of being/getting in trouble? Oh yeah. And like you say, apropos of nothing. I also think it goes back to childhood for me-- being held responsible whether or not I had any control over the matter. (Example: When we were kids, my sister got bullied and she brought it up to our mother, who responded, "well what did you do to *make them* bully you? Yeah.) And I've never been able to shake it either. I feel responsible for things I have absolutely no responsibility for(!) I fear getting in trouble for things I don't even know. Filling out an application is a straight up nightmare. I will worry that they might be asking a question in a different sense and maybe I've picked the wrong one. Being told to estimate something sends me into a panic because I'm afraid of getting in trouble for not getting it right to the cent. Surely the hammer will come down and they'll be convinced I did it on purpose(!) (Online are the absolute WORST because you can't just ask someone, and they won't let you proceed to the next page without the info.)

I've also read of this sort of fear happening with OCD (Like driving along and worrying that maybe they hit someone and then wondering again and again, "but am I sure I didn't?") I don't know if you've tried any strategies (whether techniques, meds or both) from an OCD angle, but it might be worth checking out.

I doubt I've devoted as much effort trying to get past it. This and my BDD I've pretty well written off as hopeless. There's enough (and more than enough in the case of the BDD) evidence that my "flawed thinking" isn't flawed, therefore keeping it afloat.

Ok, the closest I came was trying to take a page from my ex-BF's book. Covert narcissist and sociopathic, I was always jealous of his ability to be fearless. (Because he didn't care(!)) I never even came close to getting *there*, of course, but it did help me speak up to ask questions a bit more, hearing him say in my mind, "it never hurts to ask". I always believed that it *does* in fact hurt to ask (childhood much?). So it did help a little. "What's the worst that can (realistically) happen?" can SOMETIMES be a helpful thought if it can be kept out of the catastrophizing realm. Because a lot of times, the answer is simply, "they'll say no". Those were (are) among the things that can put the fear of getting in trouble in me, so maybe a little helpful(??)

(ps We are in the same age group.)