I'm usually a fairly resilient person after getting rejected. I pick myself back up and put myself out there again. But lately I've been going through a rough patch, dealing with a lot of rejection (recently left my childhood religion and taking a lot of backlash for it). It seems that the more I get rejected, the more of a hit my confidence takes. It doesn't seem to be a self-esteem issue; I still like myself and think I have a lot to offer other people. It's more of a learned helplessness kind of thing. I feel like, "Why even keep trying if I keep getting shot down?" Again, I'm not strictly referring to my dating life, although that is where I've been feeling it the most. It's getting harder and harder for me to approach people, because I only anticipate pain from doing so. It makes it really difficult to approach a woman with a positive attitude. I've heard of people doing "rejection therapy" where they just put themselves out there and intentionally face rejection with the idea that they'll eventually lose the fear of it. That doesn't seem to be working for me. The more rejected I get, the more awful I feel about trying. Have any of you ever experienced this? Have you figured out any strategies to boost your mood and approach a situation with a positive attitude? I'm thinking maybe cocaine would work, but I'm also thinking that's a terrible idea. There's gotta be something less self destructive that can help me cope with negativity and approach people with a positive attitude.