QUOTE (liorrh @ Jul 2 2008, 05:19 AM)

Did either of you ever go to a therapist?
I haven't been given the opportunity to see one. It is a desire I have though.
QUOTE (batmite @ Jul 2 2008, 08:33 AM)

x3
The "problem", from my limited point of view, is that the same psychological factors that lead you to practice bodybuilding and to want the mirrors you look at to give you a beautiful reflection also lead you to fear rejection. You fear rejection because, given the fact that you seek physical perfection, the fact that a female rejects you throws at you doubs like "Does the fact that she has rejected me mean that she has not perceived my body as a paradigm of perfection?" or, most importantly, "If she doesn't perceive my body as a paradigm of perfection... does it mean that it objectively isn't?". You might be using females as a non-biased (you might think that real mirrors have your subjective perception's bias) mirror you use to assess to what extent your body is what you want it to be. Therefore, just like a patient waiting for an important medical diagnosis, you begin to get all sorts of fears pumping in your head... "What if this turns out to end up in a female rejecting me?" and, from there, all the other destructive guesses are derived.
And, what's worse, fears tend to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. So, the fact that you are afraid of being rejected might, in turn, lead to rejection situations. You don't have to change how you act but how you perceive and interpret reality. Of course, this is WAY easier said than done. But, if you want to try, a little experiment is in order: haven't you ever felt that, if you get one of those phenibut highs were you become in harmony with life and your surroundings, even if you don't do anything, females tend to be more interested in you (however slight and/or subtle that increased interest is)?
I don't pretend to have the answers (I wish I had), but these are just hypotheses that might lead, if proven succesful, to a better life quality.
By the way, I would advice against seeking for help in books such as "The Game". I think it's the wrong approach... the author of the book seems to be remorseless about toying around with other people's feelings by following a methodology that is all about emulating behaviours and emotions. His game consists of pretending to be someone he is not, so that the other person believes that she has found what she's been looking for so long... in the end, he uses all this game of deception to get sex with her and dump her. I don't know to what extent I am beginning to sound like a moralist but such kind of behaviour, besides hurting some decent people which may fall victim to it, creates a very an increasing sense of insecurity (i.e. people suspecting and rejecting "good" people because there are many "bad" people that are able to emulate perfectly a "good" person's patterns of behaviour).
On the other hand, I can understand that all these words might be bullshit, since most females have proven that they couldn't care less about how good you are. The problem with books such as "The game" is that as a result of putting them into practice one of the "decent" females might end up being a victim of an individual using such methodology. That scenario would be very unethical from my point of view.
Insightful post from someone who has done some serious self diagonsis. I appreciate it.
I think I was the same as you for awhile there with the girls and the mirror determining my self worth. In fact I know I was. I was the leaness from the longest period of time in my life. I was also the most unhappy. I was an empty shell. Now I wont even wear cut-offs in the gym so I can't get lost in the mirror (so to speak). I've make it a conscious effort to stray away from this type of thinking, but the focial fear with females is still there. To the point that I am uncomfortable with an attractive female just being in the same room. It's extremely distracting.
I think my fear now stems from being rejected by my mother as a small child. Then, rejected from my father as a young adult. The funny thing is I've confronted my mother about it and we've come to terms on the issue but I still feel it's effects every day. I certainly agree with the sentiment that i should seek theropy on this to solve my social angst. As I said in a PM conversation with WoW - I feel that self medicating yourself could very much lead to a dependancy and I'm not willing to accept that. Using a substance to modify behavior may be more acceptable to me though. Something like refraining from masterbation so that when I pick up a new female I get the reward at the end of the night would be a way to start. The problem here is that past successful pickups are always willing to have another go, so this makes it a lot easier to cheat. Especially when you're horny and some chick is sending you dirty test messages with the promise that I don't even have to try to get some... This just means I must practice self control in that area as well. Demand that I get a new partner and not go back to the old ones. All in the hopes that I stop associating beautiful women with fear of rejection.
The obviousness of this not being a physical issue is expounded by the fact that when I do hook up with women they go on and on about how beautiful my body is and (seriously now, not tooting my own horn here - making a point) how "beautiful" my penis is. I've literally been told that. Several times actually. Ver batem. Anyhow, the point here is that even with positive verbal reinforcement it makes absolutely no difference when it comes to an attractive female that I don't know. If I know a woman wants me I'm straight up charismatic. You can't stop me. However, if I doubt her desire I fall to bits.
I know my insurance pays for some visits. I may look into a therapist. If I do I think I might keep a log on it. Not with personal details persay, but how I am supposed to over come them. I think it would really help all of us. If not anything else, it might motivate more of us to seek professional help.
QUOTE (JimR @ Jul 2 2008, 08:51 AM)

Try this..suppose to be the best PUA ebook out there. It's pretty much about "being a man".
http://www.gubb.devisland.net/The%20Book%20of%20Pook.pdfBTW,someone mentioned the masturbation thing and I would agree. The take home message from this thread seems to be stop jerking off all the time. Go a week and things start happening.
I'll be checking this book out ASAP.