Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Trading and Mental Health

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I guess with the death of Rene Rivkin very much in the media, it poses the question of traders mental health. I do beleive that trading on the stock market increases health issues in those who are risk of or who have developed metal health issues.

Even in the sain of us I am sure that we can all vouch for those sleepless nights worry about a stock, the what if?, should I have done this? or should have, would have but didn't scenario. The skipping of the heart when you have just traded, and waiting for the share price to go up. The sweat pouring of you and the stress in the head while heavy trading.

Ok... so here is a little of myself that I will reveal....I suffer with depression and anxiety attacks. Both of these condidtions are made worse with the impact of trading on the stock market. People tell me time and time again that a person of my nature should never trade on the market, due to the risks.

It does pose greater questioning, any comments?
 
krisbarry said:
I guess with the death of Rene Rivkin very much in the media, it poses the question of traders mental health. I do beleive that trading on the stock market increases health issues in those who are risk of or who have developed metal health issues.

Even in the sain of us I am sure that we can all vouch for those sleepless nights worry about a stock, the what if?, should I have done this? or should have, would have but didn't scenario. The skipping of the heart when you have just traded, and waiting for the share price to go up. The sweat pouring of you and the stress in the head while heavy trading.

Ok... so here is a little of myself that I will reveal....I suffer with depression and anxiety attacks. Both of these condidtions are made worse with the impact of trading on the stock market. People tell me time and time again that a person of my nature should never trade on the market, due to the risks.

It does pose greater questioning, any comments?

This is a good point krisbarry, and there are some personalities who should not be traders.

I do know of other traders who have had severe issues because of trading, including suicide.

Trading certainly will expose any personality weakness's in all of us.

Part of the process of trading I believe is getting to know yourself, and which style of trading is best for our own particular personality.

No matter which trading style one chooses, there are still head issues 5to overcome. We all have them, and apart from the actual matematical/expectancy issues, it how well we overcome these head issues which will determine our success.

The tough point in trying to help other traders is that each of us are entirely different and what helps me psychologically mightn't help anyone else and so on.

But as an aside, I think a lot of these issues exist in many businesses. Stress is not exclusive to trading. When I was in conventional business, I found it was FAR more stressful than trading.

Just a few of my thoughts.

Cheers
 
There are simple ways to eliminate stress.

IN TRADING.
Trade within your means
IN BUSINESS
Delegate
IN FINANCIAL MATTERTS
Payback Bad debt and have good debt work for you.
Aim for no debt and passive income

IN MARRIAGE
Dont ask me Ive been divorced twice!!


A classic.
Humans are so dumb
They do the same thing
day in day out and
Expect a different result.
 
Practice meditation and mindfulness – meditation and mindfulness can really make a difference to those struggling with their mental health.

Taking some time out just to yourself to relax and recharge can make the world of difference. If you don’t know where to start with meditation or mindfulness, there are some great apps out there that can help.

Try Headspace, the worlds biggest meditation platform, which has loads of free audios you can listen to, to help you relax and stay calm.
 
Share Trading can move a person into a position in life when there appears to be only one way out. That can easily happen when a person cannot see they have a problem. I know as that was my position in 1988 after the stock market crash in November 1987 when I took positions in gold shares that looked an excellent move during 1986/1987 and a ghastly move by January 1988. Cutting a long story short, my life financially and personally was smashed to pieces. Luck got me out of trouble in 1994 when Endeavor Oil then Endeavor Resources ( later St Barbara Mines ) rose from 2c to nearly $3.00 and brought me profits in the millions of dollars. It is always worth holding on, absolutely always, as times do change and there is a way out of the deepest darkest dungeons of life.
 
Share Trading can move a person into a position in life when there appears to be only one way out. That can easily happen when a person cannot see they have a problem. I know as that was my position in 1988 after the stock market crash in November 1987 when I took positions in gold shares that looked an excellent move during 1986/1987 and a ghastly move by January 1988. Cutting a long story short, my life financially and personally was smashed to pieces. Luck got me out of trouble in 1994 when Endeavor Oil then Endeavor Resources ( later St Barbara Mines ) rose from 2c to nearly $3.00 and brought me profits in the millions of dollars. It is always worth holding on, absolutely always, as times do change and there is a way out of the deepest darkest dungeons of life.

Getting just one opportunity to pay off can change you life
as you and I have personally experienced.

Right place Right time and skin in the game !
Often seen as luck.
 

Venerable journalist A.C. 'Ace' Parker believed Leary had suffered losses in his gold-mining investments.
 
Last edited:
Right place Right time and skin in the game !
Often seen as luck.

i see it as taking opportunities , or just straight luck

i don't wake up Monday ( or any other trading day ) and think stock X89 ( not a real stock ) will jump say 50% during the day/week and buy in hoping to take that gain ( i tried it once years ago on DTM Dart Mining ) but missed my entry price but it did get to the exit price just not enough profit for the risk at the opening price )

now if i see a stock i already hold ( say BCT when i held it ) bounce on some news that didn't make me cling tighter to them , i will take that unexpected gain/exit ... very different attitude to the professional traders , but little fish are sweet even if rare

PS i do not put unaffordable amounts on such plays ( so avoid wherever possible to be a forced seller )

that forced seller bit can destroy a lot of things
 
i see it as taking opportunities , or just straight luck

i don't wake up Monday ( or any other trading day ) and think stock X89 ( not a real stock ) will jump say 50% during the day/week and buy in hoping to take that gain ( i tried it once years ago on DTM Dart Mining ) but missed my entry price but it did get to the exit price just not enough profit for the risk at the opening price )

now if i see a stock i already hold ( say BCT when i held it ) bounce on some news that didn't make me cling tighter to them , i will take that unexpected gain/exit ... very different attitude to the professional traders , but little fish are sweet even if rare

PS i do not put unaffordable amounts on such plays ( so avoid wherever possible to be a forced seller )

that forced seller bit can destroy a lot of things
As we chew through the decades we develop leaned belief patterns. This influences our decision making process., Risk and how we see it, handle it and mitigate it generally determines where we will land up the Financially Independent Ladder in our latter decades.

Money Certainly makes money
Using other peoples money for a small rent ( interest rate ) giving you the opportunity to leverage and eventually compound ——- dovetails neatly with risk, opportunity and Luck!

When your here—— it only takes one Outlier to change your financial future.
 
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