It’s good you can make this connection. It sounds like you felt like your parents weren’t praising you, instead they were unfavorably comparing you to other kids. So when these managers treat you with praise for doing a good job (which they do, that’s their job, they want good morale and work out of their employees, and at first you are doing a good job wanting their praise) you get overly attached to them like the unconditional love you want from your parents. Am I on to something here or just reaching?

I hope you’re getting on the right track in wanting to stop the unhealthy fixations on the managers. It’ll take a lot of work for you. But this is what you need to do to function your best and stop getting unnecessarily heartbroken. You are setting yourself up for these heartbroken feelings and sabotaging yourself at your jobs.