For the longest time I’ve been scared of confrontation.  Not of the confrontation itself, but scared that the other person is going to get mad at me and then want to kill me.  I know it’s not rational to think this way, but I can’t stop from thinking this way.  I’ll give some examples:

A long time ago I had neighbors that liked to have parties and play loud music.  They were medical school kids.  I was always terrified of asking them to turn it down or stop because I was afraid they would then come over and shoot me, so I never said anything.

When I worked at a grocery store, I had a customer who would come into employee areas and when I told her she had to stop she got really angry.  I had to take a week off from work because I was terrified she would come back to the store and shoot me.

I got another job at a store when a person got fired and I was constantly afraid the person who got fired would come and kill me for taking their job, even though I wasn’t the reason they lost their job, I was just the replacement.

In my most recent example, I am the supervisor and I have two employees who are butting heads.  I’m terrified that it is going to escalate and I’m going to have to get involved.  I’m terrified that one of them is going to get mad at me and then come in one day and shoot me.

I’ve tried to look for resources online from people who have similar fears and I keep coming up empty.  

Can anyone relate, or help with coping strategies?