running bad playing bad

[sdp]

I guess this was long overdue, but I have hit a 3 week downslide. (I am a live player, not internet) I can see where I have played badly, but it still didn't cost me as much as bad beats where I was ahead until the river and gd if that magic card didn't come and help that hapless loser who called his draw all the way down and called my all in on the turn.

I am questioning whether or not I should take a break. I play either the 9-18 or 200NL in LA. Of course, minds being what they are, my first thought was to jump to the 400NL and get my $1800 back.... but thankfully that thought passed quickly. How do you ride out a losing streak? How much money do you keep dumping? Losing almost 2 grand is about at my mental limit of being comfortable, as to this point I have never experienced such an extended losing streak. But, having no frame of reference I would like to know if I am overreacting and this kind of variance in these games is normal so I would love to hear other people's experiences and how they handle it.