How to handle emotions when you lose during trading.

[Youngkhngdiddy]

 On one hand, it may seem that it is impossible to take control over emotions while trading, but at the same time, everything is possible in trading in case of constant learning, seamless practice and pure desire to attain goals in the financial industry. Handling emotions that appear once a trader bears losses or even faces a whole loss streak is a matter of experience. Supposing that one only begins their journey in trading. In that case, emotions are inevitable because the organism, namely the (Amygdala) in your brain, turns on the defensive mechanism, which is revealed via emotions, usually negative ones such as despair, fear, disappointment, anger and others.
 Professional traders or, at least, those who have acquired particular experience in trading understand a couple of simple rules that prevent excessive emotional bursts, rules such as:
1. Do not overtrade, always allocate time for relaxing and purifying the mind.

2. Do not abuse leverage.

3. Do not place high hopes on trading, always stay alert.

4. Act wisely and appeal to a rational sense rather than an emotional component.
 These are some of the key points about trading that are understood by those who have gained some experience.

 In case one faces a loss streak, and there is a need to handle bad emotions that force them to give up trading and leave the market, it is recommended to look at things soberly, turning on analytical thinking. Analyzing mistakes is one of those "pills" that can help to understand that the market is operated by regularities. It means that there is always a chance to conduct analysis correctly, even though it requires a bit more time than usual before opening the position. The prudent approach to analysis includes not only an analysis of made mistakes but also a review of successful deals because they have led to success.
 If nothing helps to deal with emotions, one can try different practices that are highly recommended in trading circles, such as meditation, mindfulness exercises, and others. They are aimed at relieving mental pain, suppressing negative thoughts, and gradually substituting them with positive ones. It is also of utmost importance not to approach the market while having anger or irritation because, in this case, actions are driven by emotions, not by rational sense.
 These are some methods and practices I think traders could use in controlling their emotions when they lose while trading, you could give your opinions or add more if you got any, also I'm open to corrections so feel free to include some corrections in any statement you feel I'm wrong.

[1714472389]

1714472389

[Oshosondy]

Overtrading is not good at all. It is bad for health and also it might lead to losses. But if a trader is good, as he is making money from trading, it will enliven him to be opening positions more often but and checking the market also more often. This is not good at all. Too much trading is not good.

One of the cause of failure in trading is too much leverage. But also the coin that we are using to trade is very important. You can be a good trader but the coin you are trading can be causing losses. Do not trade shit coins.

A trader should always know that trading is as risky as gambling. This is very important. The risk should be minimize with good strategies and also aiming for profit.

[BitMaxz]

The first rule you mention I recently can't control myself I lost in the trade blaming myself for not managing the risk properly now I feel how new traders feel every time they lose in the trade.
I'm pretty stressed lately but I accept the fact that I lost and am still new to trading instead I play stress music on YouTube and play games a bit.
 
What I learned from trading is that you need to bring your emotions out on the trading you should always keep stop-loss because recently that's the reason why I lost big because I canceled my stop-loss setup and also chasing a profit is a pretty bad decision when you are already late on the entry point.
Trading is risky if you don't have risk management and you don't control yourself properly. Since I learn a bit from past mistakes I always go back to where I started and review what are my mistakes that I can use in the future.

[Wapfika]

Take a break should be the number 1 rule here! I usually uninstall all my trading app when I suffer a bad trade and continue on the other day once I already get over on my losses. It’s very hard to formulate another entry for trade without considering your emotion for your trade just to recover your losses.

I like the avoid leverage suggestion because this is the typical path of loser trader to get higher capital as substitution to their lose funds so that they can gain quicker for recovery. Exchange intentionally provide a higher a leverage option to take advantage on newbie traders and losers to use it and loss all their funds through liquidation.

Lastly, if you are always losing in trading then maybe it’s time to quit and focus on job that gives you fix profit or simply just hold for long term.

[Dunamisx]

There's nothing much expected than when you're gambling moderately without doing above your capacity , any outcome will be taken and accepted by you because you already know that you're not beyond your limit, the more why we should always trade with the minimum amount in which you could afford to loose, i don't expect a newbie go into trading like that without having prior experience on how to trade or by starting with small amount of money.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

In my opinion, as long as trading is concerned, it is not something that anyone can actually boast of being 100% professional about because no matter how professional an individual is in trading, they definitely will still experience losses, and sometimes the mind gets troubled because of the money they lose in the process of trading. That's why some people's emotions push them to make more mistakes, resulting in more losses. There's no one that is always happy about losses; that means that no matter how experienced a trader is, they don't feel happy about their losses, but they have only adopted some practices that help them overcome their emotions. Apart from what you have already listed in the OP, others are: 

• If you cannot overcome your emotions after several attempts at practicing and trading with consecutive losses, just stop trading and do something else. That's because not everyone knows how to handle their emotions.
• Don't only believe in making profit while trading; always keep in mind that losing in trading is also one of the trading characteristics and a reality show for every trader. 
• Make use of stop-loss and take-profit options; it will prevent too many losses that can make the trader so emotional. If, for example, a trader should lose $1000 while trading, he can decide to apply a stop-loss never exceeds $500 or $800. Too much loss contributes to too much emotional trouble.

[Queentoshi]

1. Do not overtrade, always allocate time for relaxing and purifying the mind.

Trading often can improve the confidence that a trader has in the market, but overtrading can reduce the mental alertness of a trader to spot resistances and supports etc. Trading and studying the charts can be something that becomes time consuming even without the knowledge of the trader, every new trader has to avoid this pit because just as it can make a trader, it can also lead to a trader making one wrong decision from mental exhaustion or over-confidence.

[Coyster]

This thing has been discussed exhaustively in the forum, the talk of trading and how to control ones emotions when trading, i am not a day trader, but i think a trader with the right skills and knowledge, who knows the risk involved in trading would know how to combine trading and other life activities, and also know when to stop. The thing is, trading is quite risky, that is why newbies are advised to stay away from trading, whilst the mistake the more experienced traders make is to think they can make profits everytime, or to keep on chasing profit even when they are losing.

[mindrust]

Just don't over-trade. Like you said, that's the most important part. Successful traders do their trades monthly. Sometimes even yearly. 4-5 trades/year is more than enough if you want to make money from trading. If you are doing 10 trades every day, you are probably addicted to gambling and you are probably losing money. Always trade a portion of your portfolio and keep a huge hodl stash and keep them in a cold wallet. I am hearing some bad news on exchanges locking people from their accounts randomly. You don't wanna end up like this trust me. Especially binance don't give a shit. They can keep your acc locked for months without giving out any information on what's going on.

[armanda90]

Not easy how to handle emotion when lose during trading, but to reduce our emotional for awhile close all market and take time getting rest then explore your hobbies to get back good mindset forgetting with loss before in trading.
I have hobbies with playing football and always explore my emotion after losing in trading and try to forget awhile with market current dropping, spent your time with family seems not bad ideas how to handle emotion after losing in trading and return back to the market with good emotional.
If market condition still not support yet with still drop better take a rest few days in trading how to reduce emotional, then come back later after market currently growing up and emotional have controlling well. Usually future trader face more emotional when losing position but for spot keep enjoying become long term holder when market dropping.

[Rockstarguy]

1. Do not overtrade, always allocate time for relaxing and purifying the mind.

Trading often can improve the confidence that a trader has in the market, but overtrading can reduce the mental alertness of a trader to spot resistances and supports etc. Trading and studying the charts can be something that becomes time consuming even without the knowledge of the trader, every new trader has to avoid this pit because just as it can make a trader, it can also lead to a trader making one wrong decision from mental exhaustion or over-confidence.

Sometimes trading can't be predicted which I think it is not right for a trader to overtrade because there is no guarantee whereby people overtrade and they will surely make more profit. Most times when we overtrade due to over confidence in trading one ends up in losing everything.  It is important for traders to understand that there are limits in trading and one needs to stick to it and not to overtrade. When the right things are not done in trading it will definitely come with emotion as the end result.

If traders don't want to be disappointed and feel bad towards the result of trading they Need to do the right things,  when trading is not done the way it supposed to be done it will definitely put people to pains.

[Lakai01]

Sometimes trading can't be predicted which I think it is not right for a trader to overtrade because there is no guarantee whereby people overtrade and they will surely make more profit.
[...]

I have to make a brief comment here: trading can NEVER be predicted, otherwise it wouldn't be trading. You can predict things like rising volume, falling prices, upcoming listings, ... can be factored in, but that doesn't mean you can predict the price trend.

That's what makes it so difficult to keep emotions out of trading. You are completely convinced of yourself and your market assessment (BTC is rising!, ...) and it is very difficult to admit to misjudgements, at least in the beginning, as this also means you have to doubt yourself and your own trading skills.

[Cryptomultiplier]

Take a break should be the number 1 rule here! I usually uninstall all my trading app when I suffer a bad trade and continue on the other day once I already get over on my losses. It’s very hard to formulate another entry for trade without considering your emotion for your trade just to recover your losses.

I like the avoid leverage suggestion because this is the typical path of loser trader to get higher capital as substitution to their lose funds so that they can gain quicker for recovery. Exchange intentionally provide a higher a leverage option to take advantage on newbie traders and losers to use it and loss all their funds through liquidation.

Lastly, if you are always losing in trading then maybe it’s time to quit and focus on job that gives you fix profit or simply just hold for long term.

Taking a break is obviously the first option on my list of things to do or not do when one loses during trading and for me one should understand what it is they are doing.
The moment one sits to analyze how the loss came about and understands that successful traders often encounter loses and it's no big deal really, until one knows if they are good at it and can continue or not.
A clear strategy is for the trader to adopt during a trading session inorder to know if to just watch the market or dive right in facing the risk. It is also one way to avoid suffering a loss emotion twice.

[stadus]

1. Do not overtrade, always allocate time for relaxing and purifying the mind.

Trading often can improve the confidence that a trader has in the market, but overtrading can reduce the mental alertness of a trader to spot resistances and supports etc. Trading and studying the charts can be something that becomes time consuming even without the knowledge of the trader, every new trader has to avoid this pit because just as it can make a trader, it can also lead to a trader making one wrong decision from mental exhaustion or over-confidence.

While it can make you more exposed and improve your performance in trading, overtrading is not advisable at all. Give yourself enough time to relax and be calm, since life is not just all about chasing more profits but most likely its all about balancing your life activities. Also, overtrading, as much as you’re exposed to winning your trades if you are an expert trader, it can also increase the chances to lose on your trades. Note that you are still trading in such unpredictable market, so you cannot anticipate that you control all the outcome of your trades, sometimes it’s just that some goes out beyond our control.

[livingfree]

Or much better not to leverage when you can't handle it. Most of the traders that have tried it stop leveraging when they're aware of it and can't stop themselves much because of how emotional they are.

Overtrading is the cause of it and when they seem to see the effect of it as they trade, they're no longer trading at all with discipline but instead, they're trading with their emotions and it is high.

And going on that state gives them hard time to analyze and understand all of the situation that they're dealing with as they trade.

[Distinctin]

This thing has been discussed exhaustively in the forum, the talk of trading and how to control ones emotions when trading, i am not a day trader, but i think a trader with the right skills and knowledge, who knows the risk involved in trading would know how to combine trading and other life activities, and also know when to stop. The thing is, trading is quite risky, that is why newbies are advised to stay away from trading, whilst the mistake the more experienced traders make is to think they can make profits everytime, or to keep on chasing profit even when they are losing.

I have to say also I always bumped this kind of thread but I guess, I still see it interesting to answer. I think the moment you decide to enter trading, you have known already that handling emotions is crucial in trading, otherwise you will always end up with a negative outcome. And the only thing I did when I’m in at loss, I stopped trading and take a break. For me, it’s important not to rush in making profits in trading, so that it will not come to a point that you destroy your  mental and emotional state just to recover your losses and chase bigger profits when trading.

[R100K-Martin-Lunger]

The first rule should be to step away for a while before you make an emotional decision! Let your emotions breathe, feel your feelings, and return to trading with a fresh mind so that you don't make impulsive, FOMO-based decisions. Trading is not easy and I recommend turning to a licensed trading bot (r100k) for new traders. It gives you the opportunity to sit back and does all the work for you. I have 162% profits today because of this method.

[freedomgo]

Just don't over-trade. Like you said, that's the most important part. Successful traders do their trades monthly. Sometimes even yearly. 4-5 trades/year is more than enough if you want to make money from trading. If you are doing 10 trades every day, you are probably addicted to gambling and you are probably losing money. Always trade a portion of your portfolio and keep a huge hodl stash and keep them in a cold wallet. I am hearing some bad news on exchanges locking people from their accounts randomly. You don't wanna end up like this trust me. Especially binance don't give a shit. They can keep your acc locked for months without giving out any information on what's going on.

Lack of emotional control makes you more prone to overtrading. So as much as possible, learn to handle your emotions first so you won’t push yourself into overtrading. And at the same time, don’t trade using leverage, it will only heighten the risk to lose, most especially if you are still new in the trading market.

Trading is a risky and dangerous thing. This is why people should not rush into trading if they are not knowledgeable and skilled enough, otherwise they will only trade in search for quick profits, when in reality trading does not magic like that, as it should be dealt seriously and skillfully.

[Assface16678]

The truth is that no matter what control or discipline we do in trading in order not to lose our cool it is inevitable because we are just human being, we could experience burst of emotion or because of our current emotion we sometimes does decision that is lack on thinking or logical thinking and it is prone to heppen in trading, we know how frustrating trading can be, one lose trade can throw us and become too emotional, but it cant be helped as no matter how firm is your controm and discipline you cannot sometimes control your emotion because you need it in order to not be burn out, what I'm doing when I lose in trade is to accept the lose and the emotional effect, so instead of trading again and as we know might affect my decision making when emrotional then I will divert my attention to something or let the anger and frustration out in that way I can be calm in a short period of time. So you just need to handle your emotions and know how to solve them.

[boyptc]

Set stop loss.

That's how you will control your emotions on an instant. Because if you can't go on and do good with your trade. That's going to be your initiator and reminder that you should stop and don't go further.

It's a good way to control your trades and not just your emotions and that will stop your greediness and false hopes that a trade that you're likely monitoring is good but it turns out that you need to face the reality that you have to stop.