[Batata]

It's probably not just the fact that you were bullied that makes you so sensitive to rejection. I can guarantee that it has something to do with your Middle Eastern upbringing as well. Mideast culture is hypermasculine and prideful, for better for worse. Whether you realize it or not, attitudes of honor and high levels of personal esteem are embedded in you and, unfortunately for many kids like us, we must discover that the Mideast honor system is not compatible with American culture. It works for our parents because societies over there tend to be socially egalitarian (emphasis on "socially") and that's the only culture they know.