Gambling addiction and serious mental illness

[NWJBL]

Hi, guys. I wondered if anyone else here had experienced these troubles from being in the markets. Let me give you some background:

I bought btc and ltc in 2013 and lost 20% or so messing around in alts around the Mt Gox crash. I swore not to play with alts again, put my coins in a wallet and forgot about them until Autumn 2017.

At this point, I added more fiat, things were going well. I was still 90% bitcoin, but started to visit forums and chats and I was slowly encouraged towards altcoins, hearing about the crazy gains. By December I was 0% bitcoin and out on a limb with many alts. I was day-trading and holding (for a few days!) and making big profits. When the crash came in January, I had no idea what to do and lost 80-90% of my sats.

The bear market hit me hard, I didn't - at the time - realise how it was all manipulated and coordinated it was. I fell for it completely and sold a lot of valuable coins very low, I dumped my ICOs at a loss, made desperate, scrappy trades - and ended up losing almost all of a 250k portfolio.

I came to have daily anxiety attacks lasting hours, and I couldn't function properly in daily life. The distress was severe and I "attempted" suicide more than once, and it was constantly on my mind. I thought there was no hope of recovery - but of course there definitely was. If I had just done a few good ICOs in that time, for instance!

When alts started rallying in March, I noticed them early but the stress and hurry to recovery my losses, plus some bad advice from the internet, led me to trading way too much and I barely made 10% gains in April, despite every coin I had held (for a while) going 2-5x in price. If I had just held them, I'd have done very well!

This has compounded and the loss of my original ATH plus the new stress and panic over desperately trying to make it back has led to what I think can be called a real gambling addiction; after years of hodling I now can't leave a coin alone for more than a day. I read forums and am constantly FOMOing into a dozen different shitcoins just in case they moon and I miss it. In doing so, I sell off chunks of my most reliable coins, and then miss out even more.

The anxiety attacks continue daily and I have reluctantly started medication.


Has anyone else been so badly affected by the bear, and then also by the bull? Do you have any advice? I want to be able to go back to peaceful hodling with minimal intervention, and hopefully check again at the end of the year for a nice surprise. But my mental health has been absolutely wrecked and I am struggling a great deal.

Anyone else?

many thanks,

[1715330990]

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[Trofo]

You have identified your problems very well in the post. Now you need to start acting on it. The worst thing you can do in gambling is to try a hail Mary to recover your funds. It could even work once or twice but in the long run you are destined to lose. Second thing to note you shouldn't think about investing in cryptocurrencies as gambling. It is investing and you have to have a clear strategy with goals set before you even start. 

I would suggest to try to make your own investing strategy and stick to it. Mine usually goes something like this:
1. Invest only money you don't actually need and immediately write it off. You don't have it anymore.
2. Choose the project carefully. You can use others advice to filter trough projects but then DYOR and be absolutely sure you believe in the fundamentals of the project.
3. Wait for the right time to buy into the project. Never buy on ATH or close to it, wait for correction. it will come 99% of the time. It is ok to miss that 1%.
4. Now that you have invested, immediately have an exit strategy. I usually cash out about 33% at 3x gains effectively giving me back my investment. Then cash out another 33% when I think we are up for correction. It is again ok to miss ATH. It is very difficult to hit absolute peak. Keep the rest for long term (several years).

Above works well for me but you need to find the process that works for you. It could be similar or something totally different. Don't let FOMO and FUD get to you. It is much easier to disregard them if you are investing only spare cash.

[Jet Cash]

Whatever you do in these markets, you need to use 'play money'. I've invested some in Bitcoin, but I don't expect to realise on that for at least two or three years, So I'm not too bothered by short term movements.

I had several thousand dollars in a fiat bank account, and I decided to convert that into .com domain names as a speculation. This is fairly high risk if you are bottom feeding in the market, and there is an annual maintenance fee. I've registered names for $8, and sold them for between $1,000 and $5,000,but that doesn't happen very often. The more likely result is that you have to pay a load of annual renewal fees. Maybe I'm addicted to the hunt ( I think of it as domain name mining), but it really is important to restrict yourself to play money. If you start to approach your limit, then you need to liqidate to maintain your portfolio.

I guess the same rules apply to crypto. You need to be aware that fraud and theft are everywhere, so you have to be fairly fleet of foot to stay alive.

[yoseph]

Investing in bitcoins is a very huge headache especially when you consider that it’s so volatile and when compounded with the FUD going around almost on a daily basis, it’s just create a lot of stress for the investors. I haven’t been affected that much because I mostly hold till I have attained a specific then do I sell.

[suchmoon]

I lost shitloads of money due to being unable to separate emotion from trading. It wasn't in Bitcoin though. Old-school stocks and options, back in 2005 or so. In a way I was really lucky because I was nearly cash-only when the market crash hit. Started buying again in 2009 but for the long term, no more attempts to make a quick buck. Worked out ok.

By the time I got into Bitcoin (end of 2013) I was convinced that I'm too late. $150 per coin - who in their right mind could pay that much for internet money??? So I didn't buy any but I kept ~50% of coins I mined for some reason I can't quite explain, mostly vanity I guess. Worked out ok.

Basically the lesson I learned is: don't trade if you're not a trader. It's not quite like being a surgeon or an airplane pilot but still it requires knowledge, discipline, tools, etc and while on the surface it may seem simple it most definitely isn't. Step away from it as if it was any other job/hobby that you wouldn't attempt without extensive training.

Having another hobby to fall back on helps tremendously. I love hiking so a day outdoors typically lifts me up.

[rysheeer]

Well, if you haven't made any research before going and make an investment on bitcoin then you will get rekt for sure. If you're just a long term investor then you don't need to worry on the daily price rally, go on a vacation then check it in a few years or months. I've experienced loosing a lot of money on daily trading and I know how it feels, anxiety is hunting me every night and I couldn't sleep well, that was the time I decided to study technical analysis. Until now, I'm learning everyday. 

[comander]

Man I really understand you, I enjoyed that feel in the December when i could trade almost every coin and do some dumb shit and still earn . A lost 80% of my portfolio when the bear market hit us, I was unable to understand that it is time to stop and take the cash. That was my big mistake, and now I tried to trade a bit and it went well till the Btc ride from 9800 to 8000 pushing also every alt down. Now I am just sitting holding my coins waiting for them to raise and doing bounties to make at least some money for living 

[kevoh]

This might sound like an unconventional advice but please for the sake of your sanity stay away from everything crypto-related for a month or two. If it means taking a vacation to where there's no means of accessing the internet, please do so.

This serves as a form of reboot for you. It will help you to avoid chasing your loss, come up with better ideas and starting afresh. A

[INBOT]

Hi,
I really feel for you and hope everything will be fine eventually.

I support the idea of taking a good long break, fill your life with something healthy that has nothing to do with crypto or gambling. Be careful not to form another addiction.

Medication will help if it is the right one for you. I would recommend also meditation on daily basis. There are very good guided meditations in youtube, it helps with calming your mind, gaining balance, sleeping better and seeing the positive.

Someone once said: 'You either win or you learn' - please consider what you have to learn in this experience in your life and implement it so that you will be stronger in life in the future.

All the best!

[cioloxl]

First of all, the right mindset to have when approaching crypto is, imo, "Que Sera, Sera". I know it's easier said than done, but look at it as if it were money you lost. I've lost my fair share in the crash, although I've only been toying around with crypto for a little over a year. Friend of mine got himself 1 btc at 10k$ (from a loan, no less) and lost quite a bit of it through day trading (attempting, actually). I find his mental health has deteriorated significantly since we got in the game. Started losing his hair. Won't listen to our advice. Quite sad, really.

You should be your own judge and realize when enough is enough. It doesn't take much to see that the path your going down on is not healthy, the fact that you posted here shows you're aware. Bring changes before it eats you. Have someone who loves you get you through it, if you feel you can't do it on your own.

[Berfikirlah]

Indeed if someone has been addicted to gambling is very difficult to remove because it has become a hobby inherent in the mind, surely his life always rely on the results of gambling when many people go bankrupt because of gambling, I think people who hobbies gamble and assume will get rich suddenly with the results of gambling is wrong because the real gamble is the beginning of bankruptcy.

[Viarahine]

This might sound like an unconventional advice but please for the sake of your sanity stay away from everything crypto-related for a month or two. If it means taking a vacation to where there's no means of accessing the internet, please do so.

This serves as a form of reboot for you. It will help you to avoid chasing your loss, come up with better ideas and starting afresh. A

I fully agree with you and support you. Since people are given the opportunity to take a big jackpot, but then they lose this jackpot in the hope of getting more, and eventually get into debt.

[PrinceFury]

Gambling is very wide issue when it comes to mental health. Its like an addiction on drugs where you can also searching for whatever you are. You want to achieve more and more until it becomes addiction.

For example , Like me, I'm intended on joining online gambling or betting online. In the first place when you win. You will satisfied at first. But after that it makes more than you expected. You want to gain more winnings so that you continue to do it. I gain already 0.1 btc for winning but also lost when im still continue to bet because of my addiction.

In the other side, the good is you can earn a lot of money to this but you must have a great stategy.

[babysweetTiger0401]

Hi, guys. I wondered if anyone else here had experienced these troubles from being in the markets. Let me give you some background:

I bought btc and ltc in 2013 and lost 20% or so messing around in alts around the Mt Gox crash. I swore not to play with alts again, put my coins in a wallet and forgot about them until Autumn 2017.

At this point, I added more fiat, things were going well. I was still 90% bitcoin, but started to visit forums and chats and I was slowly encouraged towards altcoins, hearing about the crazy gains. By December I was 0% bitcoin and out on a limb with many alts. I was day-trading and holding (for a few days!) and making big profits. When the crash came in January, I had no idea what to do and lost 80-90% of my sats.

The bear market hit me hard, I didn't - at the time - realise how it was all manipulated and coordinated it was. I fell for it completely and sold a lot of valuable coins very low, I dumped my ICOs at a loss, made desperate, scrappy trades - and ended up losing almost all of a 250k portfolio.

I came to have daily anxiety attacks lasting hours, and I couldn't function properly in daily life. The distress was severe and I "attempted" suicide more than once, and it was constantly on my mind. I thought there was no hope of recovery - but of course there definitely was. If I had just done a few good ICOs in that time, for instance!

When alts started rallying in March, I noticed them early but the stress and hurry to recovery my losses, plus some bad advice from the internet, led me to trading way too much and I barely made 10% gains in April, despite every coin I had held (for a while) going 2-5x in price. If I had just held them, I'd have done very well!

This has compounded and the loss of my original ATH plus the new stress and panic over desperately trying to make it back has led to what I think can be called a real gambling addiction; after years of hodling I now can't leave a coin alone for more than a day. I read forums and am constantly FOMOing into a dozen different shitcoins just in case they moon and I miss it. In doing so, I sell off chunks of my most reliable coins, and then miss out even more.

The anxiety attacks continue daily and I have reluctantly started medication.


Has anyone else been so badly affected by the bear, and then also by the bull? Do you have any advice? I want to be able to go back to peaceful hodling with minimal intervention, and hopefully check again at the end of the year for a nice surprise. But my mental health has been absolutely wrecked and I am struggling a great deal.

Anyone else?

many thanks,

If you became  addicted into gambling you must take this out to your personality or remove it as your vices. Because it will lead you into zero

balance in the end. since you are in bitcoin world or crypto world you must invest wisely here and I suggest you to invest more in the altcoins

than investing directly into bitcoin. Now its up to you if you will follow this tips of advice of mine.

[TheBeardedBaby]

I've been trough something similar. I was laughing at a guy who lost more then 3K$ on Poker, then I got involved in the Forex, some years ago. Tried with demo account with virtual money, reading and trading some pairs, then I double the investments for two times /starting from base amount every time to be sure what i'm doing/ and I thought BAG! I can do it too, I'm a trader. /bullshit, it was pure luck/.
 
When you gain some self confidence that you can do something but you really can't or don't know what you are doing it's kind of a" hold my beer" jokes.
I made some trades, lost some savings, then again went back to 0, then I made some good profit but and got more confidence, the problem is that you don't know when to stop, you become greedy, and greedier with your next good trade and you don't pay attention to the looses /big mistake/.

Everything goes exponentially same as your greed, and at the end you loose everything even more.

Aside of the money I lost many sleepless nights in watching the 3 screens, checking every time. Meta Trader had an awful default alarm sound i hated it but did't change it. Waking you up in 3 or 4 AM with this sound was horrible, I still hear it, sometimes. The good thing with the Forex is that you have a free weekends, but not with the Bitcoin.

I almost lost control over my job / I still have a small company/. Then came the health issues,too much stress and punting weight from bad sleep and sitting all the time, eating fast food.  No time for friends, you are dead tired on the weekends...

I lost some money but I manage to recover. Everything was just for an year but man, had a huge impact on me.

I just woke up one night from the alarm and said STOP. Closed all the open positions and shut off the PCs. The next day I got on my bicycle and went riding for hours / it was really hard in the beginning you cannot breath after so long period without motion/.

I learned to control it, I have a family now and I have to be responsible for my actions.

Now i'm playing dice from time to time with the money from the campaigns here

[Vannie12]

Well, Addiction is a bit broad if you would be defining it and apply it to any hobby or anything that a person could develop an intuition of excitement in. Yet if we will be pertaining to Gambling then it is all about curiosity, then when you got the hang of it, you enjoy and have fun and there will be win and losses.
Still when talking about emotions, there are different things that maybe involved. As a unique individual, although gambling addiction can manifest, it does not mean they are actually the same. There are still different intensities of this disorder.
But still great explanation on your detailed emotion when it comes to such concern.

[mela65]

In my opinion; it is not fair compare gambling with crypto trade. But you have some serious points also. If you spend most of your time with crypto trade; it will be an addiction to check market prices.