An addiction is any behavior we repeatedly indulge in for pleasure while ignoring the negative consequences it brings. What is to be stressed is that any behavior can become an addiction. It all depends on how the behavior fares in the criteria I use as the 3 signs of behavioral addiction. First thing I ask is: does the behavior affect the person’s life negatively? Second, does the person feel that he or she is at the happiest moment of their life when engaging in the behavior? Lastly (probably the most important of all), are the returns or the rewards more than the costs of the behavior?
The problem today is that most behaviors are so ordinary that people fail to see them as an addiction. They shrug the behavior off as normal until the negative consequences become irreversible and it becomes too late for intervention. People usually have this idea that gambling addiction is confined only in casinos or with the local book keeper. Well, in using the criteria I provided above, we can see that several forms of behavior are actually, by definition, full blown forms of Gambling Addiction.
In my practice, I have observed 2 prevalent forms of these subtle breed of Gambling Addictions. First is an addiction to Online Day Trading (which is the focus of this article) and second is an addiction in Investing in Random Business Ventures (which I will talk about in another time). I classify them both as a form of gambling addiction because it satisfies the 3 signs of addiction and the behaviors involve the objective of obtaining big money in the quickest, fastest and most effortless way possible by placing a ‘bet’ with minimal risk management.
These tutorials may seem to know what they’re talking about but these samples are only studies of past trades. No one can tell the future. Just ask yourself, why is it that the top traders don’t trade with their own money?
When it comes to these subtle forms of Gambling Addictions, I usually ask the person: Are the returns greater than the costs? Of course, if the returns are CONSISTENTLY greater, then I would shut my mouth and believe that the person knows what he/she is doing and their behavior would no longer be classified as ‘gambling’. But going back to earth and using the statistic that 95% of online traders lose their money in trading, the answer to the question would be obvious. The trouble with gambling addiction is that the victory of winning one ‘bet’ or one trade will outweigh the pain of losing 10 trades. What happens here is that even though they are losing their money fast, they are still reinforced for their betting behavior, thus, making it harder for them to stop.
What I would like to share to the people hooked with Online Day Trading, which I learned from a professional trader, is that online trading takes tremendous amount of money, time, research and patience to win constantly more than one losses. One cannot treat it like a football wager where one uses baseless techniques or gut feel to predict the motion of the market, opens a trade, prays, and closes a trade. Yes, you can make money once or twice, but up to when can your luck sustain you? Can you explain why you made money from the trade or is it as unexplainable as when people play Baccarat and the verdict ends randomly as either Banker or Player? Can you continue on like this for the rest of your life? Be honest to yourself and compute your daily earnings. Are you really working or are you already gambling?
Buy or Sell? Red or Black? Banker or Player? Big or Small? They are all the same.
If you know someone who is in the early stages or the advance stages of Gambling Addiction, whether through the casinos or Online Day Trading, do seek professional help NOW. You can obtain your free consultation with us at Grace Counselling Centre by clicking on this link: http://www.gracecounsellors.com/con_consultation.php
Disclaimer:
I am not against online trading but I am against Online Day Trading. Day Trading is opening and closing a trade within a day; usually at multiple times. This, my friends, is already gambling. I also wish to express my disgust to particular trading sites who claim that their clients can open an account with only $100 and make money from it. In order for one to make money in spot trading, your capital should be able to survive the market fluctuations. One will need more than $10,000 in capital to do this.
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