How To Get Rid Of A Trading Addiction

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Trading Addiction, do you have it? Then I am glad you found this post, as you might have clicked on this title or may have searched for a phrase like “How to get rid of trading addiction” and landed here. This means that you recognized that there is something suspicious about your behavior. Let me get straight to the point: Many people, which are seasoned traders today, started out first with gambling.

Bitcoin? Binary Options? Pokemon = Gambling Problem?

A trading addiction is a trading addiction period. No matter if it is Bitcoin, Binary Options, Online gambling, cards, Pokemon, or whatever. If you gamble and lose money, this is a gambling problem period.

I mean, you see all these shiny ads, and they scream “MONIEEESSSS” and you take a look at how it works and there are just two buttons, up and down. A green and a red one, easy as traffic lights, right? Yes, these are binary options. Their obvious easiness seems to be a no-brainer. A 50/50 chance? What can go wrong here?

Very often, unfortunately. I don’t want to get too deep into detail here. The NERD explains it very well in other posts here. No, you just have a trading addiction period. That is it and you likely have self-control issues that go with it in tow. Let’s talk about the loss effect has on you. Losing a trade, losing your whole deposit, re-depositing, losing again, and again. Oh what a loser you are, right?

No. Don’t see yourself like this. It will propel you even more down!

Getting into this downward spiral is just too easy and many of us experienced that already. When you know your credit card number suddenly off the top of your head, you know something is wrong. You don’t want to learn to trade, because this takes too long, you just want the quick kick, to try your luck and win. Once losing, you just want to get back what you have lost, trying it the way you initially lost it. Result: You will lose more. You see how stupid this is, but you do it further.

Trading Addiction Psychology

With a trading addiction here is the psychology. You start doing it more than your actual “play money” allows. Maybe you go even into debt and trading becomes a money-sucking black hole for you. People around you, say you are crazy and you know they are right, but you still act the same way. You see you are doing something wrong but still do it. This is an addiction pattern. Ask junkies, as casino gamblers, heck, you can even ask cigarette smokers.

Maybe you had a successful series of trades, pushed your account quickly very high (and lost it all again later on) – these are experiences that will strengthen the addictive power because you want to get that feeling of success again – and quickly. All signs of trading addiction.

You can perhaps imagine that I didn’t pull the above out of my ears – I was there not too long ago, luckily the consequences have been ok with me, as my day job is lucrative and I always was able to generate some extra money here and there, but hey, if I now had all these lost money I could say “Hello” to a Hawaiian girl, putting a floral garland around my neck for at least a month. But NO!, of course, I preferred to be the financier of someone else holiday working over at Stockpair.

Why not? Ok, the financial consequences have been bearable to me. Personal consequences with people in my life that I love have been quite tougher. Finally, I went to a gambler’s advice center, which was nice but it didn’t help a lot.
The bottom line is: Been there, got over it, the chapter is closed.

And here is my blueprint on how to get out of that bad tune:

1. Be true to yourself and others.

This is crucial, admit that you have a problem right now = I HAVE A TRADING ADDICTION or I am a trader. Admit that something has to change. Without this, you will never get out of it, and eventually, be broke in 6 months. So admit something bad has happened and you lost control. Also, be honest to the people around you as this brings in accountability which is very much needed.

2. Exclude yourself from E-Wallets and cancel your credit cards

I know this might sound scary to the American people. Live without credit cards?

Well, this is my personal blueprint, so I am sorry to disappoint you by not having an easy way. You ran into an addiction. This is not a day on the pony farm to get out of it. I excluded myself from SKRILL and NETELLER, I also canceled my CREDIT CARDS and wrote an exclusion letter to all providers of instant bank transfers.  This is actually the most important step. Yes, it is annoying, but hell, we ran into something hard to cure – unpleasant steps must be taken.

Consider this step as the main thing. Whenever the craving for “trading” a.k.a. gambling returns, your only available option must be a wire transfer. Why? Because you don’t get immediate satisfaction. If your wish to trade is initiated by addiction, you want it immediately. Not possible with a bank transfer. When I stopped gambling I often had a craving for it. But knowing that it would take up to three days until the deposit showed up, made me refrain from it as no instant satisfaction was available.

Once excluded, delete all the passwords in your password manager, write the brokers to close your account, delete all the trading pages from your bookmarks, and just get out of the scene completely for a while. If you want to look for this or that one time, remind yourself that you currently refrain from trading sites. Tell yourself it is just for a while, not forever – but now we won’t get back on track.

4. Decide how to proceed

After a few months you will have to decide – on a real-life binary option:
Option A – Call: Do I want to learn trading from the ground and build up knowledge?
Option B – Put: Stay away further from trading.

Depending on what you have chosen, read further:

Option A:

OK, you are still fascinated with trading (not gambling hopefully) and you are interested in it? Then learn the basics with sites like Babypips. Do you find interest in things like Candlesticks, Pips, Dojis, Bollinger Bands, and whatever? Then you can learn it – here with the Universal Trading Signals course and additionally at the Blue Sky Binary Trading University, which we can vouch for. Open up a DEMO account at Binary.com – they have good features for gambler protection as well in place and DO NOT DEPOSIT. I REPEAT DO NOT DEPOSIT.

Option A is harder, as you will be confronted with your old addiction. But you have to get on another way on the horse this time. You learn what is behind a trade and how to place a trade based on knowledge. Read the REWIRE YOUR BRAIN article by the NERD for this. You will stay demo for the next months, with no false expectations.  Learn it, try their demo, and then do it. Already in demo mode try to keep certain limitations like not exceeding a particular amount of trades per day.

Option B:

You mastered a good amount of time already, so why get back? You have proven to be able to live without it – and that pretty well, don’t you? Even if it sounds paradoxical – addiction-wise – but it really can be easier NOT doing something, than trying to do it. Stay sober, and stay away from everything about trading. Your life will be fine without it as well, if not even better. Enjoy not having the stress, enjoy spending 100% of your paycheck for your own needs, no hesitations, no lies, nothing. This is pretty well I guess – so enjoy!

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY / RELAPSE OF TRADING ADDICTION

Be aware that you may have drawbacks. Addictions are the diseases that are most difficult to cure, so there is a hell of work in front of you (depending on which level of addiction you are). There are people committing suicide because they can’t get out of an addictive cycle. So, you have to be careful with yourself.

At first: Don’t be too hard on yourself, that increases the pressure. Increased pressure comes up with stupid actions. Accept that it has happened and go on – repeat STEP 1.

If you notice that you don’t have the power to get out of it alone, don’t be too proud to ask for help. It is a disease. Binary Options Brokers make use of mechanisms in our brains, that can easily create an addiction. So, don’t be too hard on yourself. Be rational and take the steps that are needed. If my blueprint does not work for you, get some help elsewhere. There is no shame, it is normal.

If you break your leg you need to see a doctor, if you get a trading addiction, you’ve got to see someone else to get some help. You don’t need to do this alone. When being open with your family regarding this issue, you can ask them openly for their help, maybe even to be controlled (like having your wife check your bank account daily). This will help you out. Most likely they won’t be harsh to you if you ask them for help.

For external help, please check this website Gambling Addiction Support, and take action!

Stay safe! Everything will be good in the end, and if it is not good, it is not yet the end.

You will make it as you control the body that your mind sits in.

Disclaimer

This article is for educational purposes only. We are no financial advisors. The information provided from SmartOptions is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered legal or financial advice. You should consult with a financial advisor or other professional to find out what may be best for your individual needs and risk tolerance.

Please do your own research and never let anyone trade your account for you. We do not support or advertise Fund Management in any kind of manner. We solely review signal providers, their work/analysis/provided education. Please read this disclaimer and leave the website if you disagree with it.

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Steve
Steve
Is a German tech hipster hippy influencer, a marketer, a father and a righteous man of the Deutschland. He is a believer that love can conquer the world, crypto, funky, crazy, but love never hurts anyone. So light up a spliff and dig the vibe dude!