I know quite a few of you had therapy or slowly worked your way up to doing different things in order to overcome this phobia for good, or at least to a certain degree. As someone put it perfectly in their success story: "choose to live."

I also see a lot of you very upset, frustrated, and angry...completely fed up of living like this and wishing it didn't have to be this way because there are so many things you could be doing. It makes me sad to read, even though I can identify with some of the fears that are at the same level as mine at this point.

Has anyone every thought about just saying "F##k it!! and not caring anymore? You know when you just get so mad about something that you just snap? Do you ever think that maybe after enough meltdowns, you'll realize that this isn't a life worth living? Has this epiphany ever happened to anyone?

I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong forum, but I wanted this to focus on the frustration and using it in a positive way. This doesn't mean giving up hand washing or food safety or being germaphobes - I know plenty of people who are NOT emets who are normal and healthy and care about these things. I'm talking about going ahead and doing things that we want to do...whether it's get on that plane, eat sushi, take that job, get pregnant, go to Six Flags, or go out to a club on New Year's Eve. I'm talking about just LIVING. The choice really is ours, after all.