When Trading Becomes Addiction: Should I Intervene or Let Go?”

[Ocham]

I’m sharing something very personal from my life and I genuinely want honest opinions from everyone.
My younger uncle has been trading for almost 2 years now. At the beginning, it seemed like he was learning, but gradually it turned into something like an addiction. Over these two years, I haven’t seen any stable income or consistent profit—only repeated losses. He claims that at one point he made around 50,000 taka in profit, but due to poor risk management, he lost everything. To continue trading, he sold his expensive phone, sold a car worth nearly 500,000 taka, and also took money from family members (he denies it, but I know the truth). Now he barely owns anything—just a low-end phone and a laptop, which he uses for trading. I never wanted him to become a billionaire or millionaire. I would be completely satisfied if he earned even 10–20 thousand taka per month. I have repeatedly advised him to quit trading and take a small job, but he refuses to listen. He is so frustrated that he still says whatever little money he has left will also go into trading, and if that’s gone, he will be “destroyed.” Another important issue—he was addicted to drugs (yaba) for about 1–2 months before. I stood by him even during that time. Now he says that in the future his wife will not be allowed to work outside, will have no income of her own, and everything will have to depend on him. His family has almost given up on him. He lives alone with our grandmother. If I leave him too, he might completely collapse—that fear is what’s stopping me from making a decision.

My questions are:
→ Am I wrong to tell him to get out of the trading life in this situation?
→Am I asking for something unreasonable, or is this actually a serious red flag?
Honest and realistic opinions would really help.

[Call_Me_Guru]

My questions are:
→ Am I wrong to tell him to get out of the trading life in this situation?
→Am I asking for something unreasonable, or is this actually a serious red flag?
Honest and realistic opinions would really help.

You are doing what is right, nothing can change that. But know this, your need for a honest and realistic opinion is why I say this, I wouldn't ordinarily, I feel your pain and genuity. I sensed more than addition while reading your post, entrapments like this are mostly viewed psychologically, but it could be beyond it.

I don't know if you believe in spirituality, that is what I sensed. Trading can be addictive, but the addition is not like that of gambling, it only lasts for a short while after the market had taught you a bitter lesson. Your uncle is entrapped in it, nothing will stop him, if you like feel pity or advice him forever, he will not change. My one and only advice is to go for a deliverance, after which, he should see a therapist or a counselor. Don't overlook this advice.

[Oshosondy]

Am I wrong to tell him to get out of the trading life in this situation?

Always advice him to quit trading, you are doing the right thing. I hope he will listen one day after losing more money.

I don't know if you believe in spirituality, that is what I sensed. Trading can be addictive, but the addition is not like that of gambling, it only lasts for a short while after the market had taught you a bitter lesson. Your uncle is entrapped in it, nothing will stop him, if you like feel pity or advice him forever, he will not change. My one and only advice is to go for a deliverance, after which, he should see a therapist or a counselor. Don't overlook this advice.

Trading addiction is real, there are a lot of things that humans can be addicted to and trading is one of them. The person will only notice that he is over trading, make some money but later seeing himself losing more just as gambling addict is. If you think that I am not correct, you can browse about it. It is even a growing concern and there are rehabilitation centers for it just as there are gambling rehabilitation centers, although they are the same centers but people in the gambling rehabilitation centers are saying their clients are requesting for trading addiction rehabilitation services and many of the rehabilitation centers are offering it.

[Ruttoshi]

→ Am I wrong to tell him to get out of the trading life in this situation?

No, you are doing the right thing. If possible talk to his family members that he is addicted and needs a professional to help him out of addiction. Keep talking to him to quit because it's only if he quits that he will be free.

→Am I asking for something unreasonable, or is this actually a serious red flag?

You are more than a brother's keeper to stand by his side in order for  him stop trading with all your advice. You want the best for him but he's not with his senses anymore due to trading addiction. I never thought trading can be this addictive.

[Achalugo BTC]

You are doing what is right, nothing can change that. But know this, your need for a honest and realistic opinion is why I say this, I wouldn't ordinarily, I feel your pain and genuity. I sensed more than addition while reading your post, entrapments like this are mostly viewed psychologically, but it could be beyond it.

I don't know if you believe in spirituality, that is what I sensed. Trading can be addictive, but the addition is not like that of gambling, it only lasts for a short while after the market had taught you a bitter lesson. Your uncle is entrapped in it, nothing will stop him, if you like feel pity or advice him forever, he will not change. My one and only advice is to go for a deliverance, after which, he should see a therapist or a counselor. Don't overlook this advice.

Exactly, being addicted in trading is not the same with that of gambling but its necessary to trade with the amount you can afford.
And having the understanding of what trading is, will help you to understand or know the right tools to use, especially when one is encounter with any difficulties like this and also have that knowledge that trading is not something one can just start profiting without facing one or two obstacles, which is why one of the rules of having a successful trading is by applying self-control or self discipline, which can support them to achieve their purpose.

[_act_]

You are doing what is right, nothing can change that. But know this, your need for a honest and realistic opinion is why I say this, I wouldn't ordinarily, I feel your pain and genuity. I sensed more than addition while reading your post, entrapments like this are mostly viewed psychologically, but it could be beyond it.

I don't know if you believe in spirituality, that is what I sensed. Trading can be addictive, but the addition is not like that of gambling, it only lasts for a short while after the market had taught you a bitter lesson. Your uncle is entrapped in it, nothing will stop him, if you like feel pity or advice him forever, he will not change. My one and only advice is to go for a deliverance, after which, he should see a therapist or a counselor. Don't overlook this advice.

Exactly, being addicted in trading is not the same with that of gambling but its necessary to trade with the amount you can afford.

This is not correct at all. Did you make making any findings before saying this is true? Trading addiction and gambling addiction are very similar. Both are also not good at all but I think trading addiction is worse because trading can take people's brain to be more active as the people focus on their computers.

If you are not addicted to trading, do not just make conclusion but make findings about it online or go to hospital or rehab centers to make findings about it.

If their addiction is not similar, why did you said people should trade with the amount of money that they can afford to lose.

According to a case series of excessive traders (n = 8, all males), problematic trading shares many characteristics with gambling disorder, such as psychiatric comorbidities, impulsivity, trajectories, and diagnostic criteria; these patients also experience small wins early on, chase losses, exhibit poor assessment of risks and an illusion of control over outcomes, and lose control over their money.

As gambling can destroy someone's financial life, trading can also do the same.

[Achalugo BTC]

This is not correct at all. Did you make making any findings before saying this is true? Trading addiction and gambling addiction are very similar. Both are also not good at all but I think trading addiction is worse because trading can take people's brain to be more active as the people focus on their computers.

If you are not addicted to trading, do not just make conclusion but make findings about it online or go to hospital or rehab centers to make findings about it.

If their addiction is not similar, why did you said people should trade with the amount of money that they can afford to lose.

You are totally right, its true that people learn everyday so I have learned a thing or two from what you just explained and I appreciate that but if you checkmate very well, you will notice that the two has a slight difference in the essence that one can manage trading addiction by being more strategic and skillful while in gambling is basically based on luck and chance, which can't beat the system due to housedged.

[Stepstowealth]

→ Am I wrong to tell him to get out of the trading life in this situation?

Rather than giving him the advice to totally quit trading life which is something he may not really want to do, you can give him the advice to look for another source of income while he still pursues trading because some people would never learn especially when he knows that you're not a trader in a position that would understand him. Maybe with another source of income to support his daily needs he will be able to make better trading decisions from a position where he is under less pressure from wanting to make money to spend on basic needs.

[Rockstarguy]

Trading is not by force or a do-or-die affair; if it is not working for you, it is better to stop trading. When the outcome of trading is not encouraging and impressive, it is better to stop trading because the outcome of losses in trading means there is no knowledge in what one is doing.

Generally, when one keeps having the same unimpressive results, it means one should quit and think of the best decisions to make, whether it is starting all over to learn or totally quitting trading. Consistency in trading without having better knowledge won't change anything; instead, it increases the rate of losses.

[AVE5]

My questions are:
→ Am I wrong to tell him to get out of the trading life in this situation?
→Am I asking for something unreasonable, or is this actually a serious red flag?
Honest and realistic opinions would really help.

You've done your best and you were also on the right track with the roles you've displayed but one thing is sure that the best advise someone gets is the one being instigated my himself. So I can think that addictive trader had also made up his mind not to quite until he blows on his rich goal even while he's loosing his life savings and growing in debt all due to desperacy of becoming quick rich on trading.
So he had been chasing this quick rich all the while yet he's not making it so why don't him advise himself to just quit?
Some people in life had actually decided to destroy the remaining of their life's when they don't have hope plan B.
He better quit or he'll have more to regret.

[TheUltraElite]

I think this is a serious issue and you should get professional help instead of trying to help him yourself.

It might not be just trading but a lot more things that they have become addicted to including drugs, as mentioned in the OP. Also trading which is not spot trading is essentially a gambling, so it is better to assume he is gambling the money.

In either case, better to get pro help.

[Jatiluhung]

Honestly, I would be just as confused as you if I were in the same situation as you. Because you have already advised him. And I think giving advice too often will not be good for your relationship in the future. And I'm afraid he will become even more closed off from you. I think you shouldn't tell him to stop trading. But maybe try giving him advice that he can still trade but he should also look for some kind of side job that can bring him income. And you can tell him not to give up. With the job he might get, he could potentially recover using the capital from his salary. Sometimes offering hope is better, even if it's just sweet words that may not become reality. But what's certain is that he needs to gradually reduce his trading activities. Without needing to stop completely.

[Pandu Geddon]

My questions are:
→ Am I wrong to tell him to get out of the trading life in this situation?

You were not wrong to tell him to get out of trading. It's just that for your uncle, that is not a solution to recover his losses. 

If you are the only one around him, provide support. If there is no one else, it could actually be dangerous for your uncle. 
We also can't think of a solution yet because we don't know your uncle's psychological condition and situation. It would be better if you try asking an acquaintance or an expert in this matter. The first step is to make your uncle aware of his actual situation.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Perhaps your uncle doesn't realize that you seem to be the only person left hoping to pull him out of his addiction. This is a fairly common story, and while trading can hardly be called gambling, as we can see, a certain amount of addiction does creep in. Advise your uncle to take a break and reflect on all the moves he made that led to his loss. It's obvious that he can't really be called a trader if he doesn't consider his moves and instead chases losses. We're all perfectionists to some extent, and we want to do everything right every time, but we don't always see our mistakes, and strategy and self-management are among the most important methods for achieving success.

[AbuBhakar]

→ Am I wrong to tell him to get out of the trading life in this situation?
→Am I asking for something unreasonable, or is this actually a serious red flag?
Honest and realistic opinions would really help.

This is my honest opinion. You did the right thing by letting him stop. It would be better for him to find a stable job. Trading doesn't seem to be for him, considering how much he's already losing. It's like he's gambling. I guess he's doing futures trading because he makes faster money and loses faster there. Advise him to find a more stable source of income. That way, he's sure he'll be able to take home something for his family. And if there's any excess, that's all he should use for trading. Don't waste your money. You can't afford to lose. Also, tell him to study the market movement and not trade based on emotion alone.

[Ziskinberg]

Trading is good and profitable, until it becomes a source of addiction, that's when troubles start to arise, financially, emotionally and mentally.

Now, on the case of your uncle, this is actually a serious addiction. Selling his properties for the sake of trading, those are literally red flags. No good and responsible trader will think that way, but once a trader is fully driven by greed and the love of making massive amount of money, to the point of developing hatred to those family members who are trying to control addiction, then everything will led to negative outcomes, even making the person penniless and homeless in the long run.

I think you can't do nothing for now except by staying on his side, and help him realize that everything he's doing is not aligned anymore with the realities about trading. Trading is profitable, but only for those who develop and instill discipline and proper risk management all throughout his trading journey, and obviously your uncle is doing the total opposite.

[Gozie51]

I never wanted him to become a billionaire or millionaire.

I don't really know if you meant you didn't want the uncle become billionaire or millionaire because I seem to be confused how you are saying that, except I'm not getting you well with "I never wanted....."

My questions are:
→ Am I wrong to tell him to get out of the trading life in this situation?
→Am I asking for something unreasonable, or is this actually a serious red flag?
Honest and realistic opinions would really help.

You are doing great work for your uncle to leave trading, probably addictive trading because of unprofitable experience. But, I think the major problem he has is the drug addiction that he has added to it. Trading can be stopped if you are not profitting and you don't have hope of improving, however it is additional addiction with drugs and drugs is very dangerous. So take him off drugs and he will decide by himself what he wants to do with his trading and you will see that he will naturally quit by himself without your effort.

[nara1892]

There is nothing wrong with the decision you have made to tell him to quit and look for a more promising job, but there is also another option that you can suggest which is to tell your uncle to change his approach to trading for the better, but this is rather unlikely as I see that your uncle has an irresponsible character and is too obsessed.

It is best to tell him to quit and find a real job (as well as a mental and psychological break). From this we can conclude that this is what happens when you approach trading with the wrong mindset, I believe it is likely that your uncle got involved in trading with the motivation to get rich quick.

[Odogwu-Blockchain]

You are probably denying yourself good life by keeping yourself stuck trying to save your uncle, there is nothing you can do to save him, he probably can safe himself when the time comes, and I'm sure the time will come just as it does for every man. Not everybody you can save.

Your uncle will self reflect on himself one day, he can only does that if he can't have access to money anymore, and will literally rethink and start working elsewhere.

And also, he doesn't have a trader as friends or colleagues, he only doing it himself, and that is affecting his mental health. If he can stop trading for 3 months, he gonna get relief and reflect on his mistakes, works on them and restart trading again in another perspective.

[crwth]

He is practically addicted to trading and treats it as gambling. It's definitely the right thing to intervene because it could get even worse, and no one wants that. There are a lot of ways that could help him, and it's going to be similar to helping gambling addicts. Behavioral therapy could be a good start, and then offer support. Don't let him do it for himself; go with him and say you understand, but make sure he does too.