Trueee! Chasing on people who don't value you won't really do no good. It's like chasing the wind because it's entirely pointless. I know if not almost all—most of us wanted to feel validated by other people at some of our lives, but anyway it'll just turn out to be a longing if you don't really work on yourself.
Appreciation from other people is undeniably pleasing, but the more you indulge in it, the more you become dependent in it. I also experienced getting used to that validation, to the point that I act and lived with it. Yet no matter how I tried, it never seemed to be enough. Thankfully, I experienced that major turning point event and now, slowly but surely, I'm also rediscovering and rebuilding myself.