Okay I actually like the Fear system
When it first came out, I was pretty annoyed with it especially when the fears of dead end job and unfulfilled dreams kept showing up.
But today, I decided to change my playstyle and changing my playstyle included turning the fears system on and let it go awry. Well the fear of being cheated on came up and Genesis of my Opposites Attract couple was now in a perpetually p'oed mood toward her boyfriend Derek who had done nothing to warrant her anger (she's also hot headed so she's pretty much always angry anyways)
Overcoming the fears is actually pretty awesome.
I also stopped micromanaging my Sims and only get involved if I need to, which by the way is making this game a lot more fun when you aren't in a tug of war with your Sims over their queue line.