YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – Cryptocurrency has been around enough to provoke growing adoption and a passion, sometimes bordering on obsession, that can turn into crypto addiction. The highly volatile crypto market requires constant vigilance and flexibility from traders, which drives some researchers to equate the process to gambling.
Surprisingly enough, addiction specialists sliced a separate corner for people suffering from crypto addiction. The Castle Craig in Scotland is dedicated to treating crypto traders who stepped over the edge.
Castle Craig Hospital treats cryptocurrency addiction for people addicted to trading, spread betting and the trading of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple & Litecoin. We treat these as forms of gambling addiction.
states their official website.
So, is crypto addiction the new pathological gambling?
Gambling + Crypto Trading = Crypto Addiction?
The Mayo Clinic defines the parameters of gambling addiction as “willing to risk something you value in the hope of getting something of even greater value.”
Gambling can stimulate the brain’s reward system much like drugs or alcohol can, leading to addiction. If you have a problem with compulsive gambling, you may continually chase bets that lead to losses, use up savings and create debt.
the Mayo Clinic further clarifies.
Needing to gamble with increasing amounts of money to get the same thrill, trying to control, cut back, or stop gambling without success, and feeling restless or irritable when you try to cut down on gambling, are just some of the many symptoms.
Moreover, people tend to hide their behavior and even turn to theft or fraud to support their addiction. Is it true for crypto trading as well? Surely. But what are the differences, if any?
Crypto Trading is the Love Child of Gambling and Cold Calculation
Jemima Kelly, a Financial Times contributor, claimed that crypto traders are often oblivious to what they’re betting on, which could be the main difference between crypto addiction and pathological gambling.
“The get-rich-quick promises, the gamified trading platforms, and the sheer unpredictability of the markets” lours some traders in, she says.
Those traders might claim that crypto trading is more akin to ‘classic’ stock trading. And that seeming parallel might give unskilled traders the illusion of consistency. However, the violent volatility often pushes crypto trading into the realm of gambling.
There are over 21,000 crypto assets on the market, and catching the ‘new big thing’ at an early stage might cost people their life savings or earn them millions.
So where’s the balance? It seems that keeping a leveled head might be the answer.
Focus On The Addict, Not The Addiction
It takes specific personality traits to transition from a crypto trader to a crypto addict. Much like not every social drinker is an alcoholic, and not every recreational ‘pot smoker’ is a drug addict.
According to the American Addiction Centers Association, here is the main checklist of an addictive personality.
- Related to others who have developed an addiction
- Experiencing other mental health disorders
- Adventurous and risk-taking
- Disconnected and cautious
- Obsessive and compulsive
- Apathetic
- Unable to self-regulate
Also read: Will the Metaverse adoption exacerbate mental health issues? Experts chime in.
What Is The Answer?
In a strange sense, crypto trading united the notion of a lottery with the calculated financial market. Thus, the answer lies in treating crypto trading like any other source of income and leaving the ‘lottery’ part to the lucky stars (or whatever your poison of choice might be).
Introspection might not work wonders, but it helps traders separate their motives from their actions. People who treat crypto trading as a cold calculation in a business-like manner are more likely to win consistently (if not win big), sparing their emotional health in the process.
Conversely, people who are willing to invest emotionally are more likely to bet their lives on a single big win, which, statistically speaking, is not likely to happen. By sacrificing their fragile balance, these investors are prone to turning crypto trading into crypto addiction.
Again, statistically speaking, crypto addicts don’t strike as specific individuals with a unique set of triggers but rather as addicts who have found crypto trading at an ill-advised time in their lives.
So, if you feel like you are stepping over to the dark side of addiction or know someone who is, seek help today, prioritizing mental health over profits!
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