Romans 14:23 — "whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" — was not addressing all-encompassing anxiety about every decision

Romans 14 addresses specific disputable matters (e.g., eating meat offered to idols), not a general anxiety about every single action. When a person's conscience triggers on everything, including ordinary matters, that is a sign of something pathological rather than a sign that everything really is questionable. Believing every fear is not wisdom. If there is no legitimate way to test the fears, there may be a false-positive problem with fear itself, similar to the false-positive problem with Spirit-guidance.