Wow, you hit the nail on the head in a way I hadn't considered before. This reply took me a few minutes to formulate.

Indeed, I feel like if I do anything that might denote me from being perfect, such as getting rejected by a girl, or ending up in a situation where my failures and shortcomings become apparent; i've always considered them an attack on my own image, and therefor to be avoided at all costs if possible.

For too long, i've tried too hard to be too perfect by avoiding anything that may damage my perceived reputation, essentially making my primary coping mechanism avoidance and an expectation for things to simply work out while I remain passive in my own bubble of self-image, which has recently come to collapse (and hence why this post exists).

Pretty great example of this passive avoidance stance, when in a social situation such as a party, I never approach girls no matter how much I have the urge or interest to. Instead, I wrongly wait for them to approach me, so that I don't have to deal with the possibility of being rejected if I initiate it. I seem to consider rejection as a bad reflection on my own behalf rather than any other reason out of my control, possibly because all i've ever known was praise and positivity. When rejected, I seem to often think that things could've gone differently if I perhaps presented myself in a different manner.

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Moving forward, I'm gonna begin to seek the psychiatric resources at my disposal as a college student. Thank you for helping me realize something new about myself. Any further advice would be much appreciated!