serious psychological issue

Someone posted this on another thread a while ago and it helped me quite a bit. It's an article about how to boost your willpower:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/how-to-boost-your-willpower/

Turns out that your willpower is better when your blood sugar is higher. I find that having a glass of Koolaid helps a lot sometimes, especially since I have a tendency to not eat or drink much while I'm trading.

Also, your willpower is finite, so if something else is requiring willpower it will drain the willpower you have for other things.

The article is actually based on studies they did, not just speculation.
 
Quote from Mr.Consistent:

If I were you, I'd be very careful about visiting psychiatrist, most of them are total morons. Generally, psychologist are better suitable for your problems. Even though any therapist can potentially do you more harm then good, so be very careful. Also I'd stay away from medications, if you want some chemicals, then try doing regular aerobic exercise which will produce endorphins and you'll get lots of benefits from this, and if you gradually work up to more than 30mins per day and after few weeks/months you'll start experiencing so called 'runner's high'.

If you have the money, try getting help from Van Tharp or Brett Steenbarger, they might prove good value for money.

I'd recommend you focusing on positive psychology, Van Tharp has a Peak Performance Course in which there are entire chapters dedicated to dealing with compulsiveness, it describes how the mental focus gets very narrow yet the intensity is very great and such people have difficulty coming out of such mental states. Usually it is due to some emotional pain from the past. He also describes ways of how to deal with it. I've read lots of books on trading psychology, and nothing comes close to Peak Performance Course..

Just remember that there is no success without commitment and that discipline is basically total commitment, use your frustration as a driving force, take total responsibility for your own mental states instead of passing it over to medication or your environment. You can choose to have whatever state of mind you select and condition yourself mentally just as athletes do physically.

I don't know your situation so it would be disrespectful from me to say that I know how you feel. The only thing I can advice you is to be totally responsible for everything that happens to you during trading, and that includes your mental states, because if you don't then you'll always have your past or upbringing or environment to blame, and you'll be stuck for the rest of your life living in a misery. However the good news is that if you accept total responsibility for your mental states, and regularly condition your mind, you suddenly have a choices and you can change instead of being victim of circumstances. Once you accept that all the resources necessary for a change are within you and not within a psychiatrist or a medication, you can start modeling successful people and duplicate their internal mental strategies and become a winner and appreciate all the negative aspects of your life valuable lesson and as impetus to get your life to next level. I know this is a hard concept to understand and accept, but once you understand that our society is totally wrong when it teaches us to believe that we have limitations, and that we're the product of our environment. The truth is that we can choose what things mean to us and what we're going to do about it and therefore shape our destiny.

Be grateful for your brain constantly asking you questions, it is don't try to turn it off with drugs, just don't ask yourself negative questions such as why did I screw up or why is it happening to me, instead create a list questions such as; "What would I have to believe in order to succeed", or; "Who is already succeeding in the this area and what do they do differently",. . . and so on. . . and questions as these will direct your brain to totally different mental states. If you want to calm your brain, do regular meditation.

If you'll go to a psychiatrist, he/she usually studied people who have problems and might pigeon hole you into some category, will label you, and might tell you some BS that you'll be screwed for your rest of your life because of this or that happened in the past. If you have depression, don't feel ashamed or worthless, welcome depression is an opportunity for growth and transformation, lots of people who struggled in the past found within themselves the strength to achieve extraordinary things in life, much greater than those who had everything handed to them. But hey, do as you like, don't listen to me (I'm not qualified therapist), it is ultimately your choice, your decision, your life, you are the one who will create your own destiny. You might not control the wind but you can control the sails.

All the best :)
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Thanks for your post Mr. Consistent.

I am not an advocate for fixing anything through the use of drugs, but in my case I see no other way.

As mentioned this is not simply about 'lacking' discipline, this is about constant or repetitive spurts of uncontrollable irrational behavior that occur without warning, besides other things. I consider myself very disciplined physically, but mentally is another story.

I think of it as having 'natural tendencies' that go against one's best interest. If I have to pick between 5 different options, my brain will naturally pick the most challenging, this is a problem that not only covers trading, but life in general.

If I am not mistaken I think it is a chemical imbalance in the brain, which keeps the conscious and subconscious mind in a subtle perpetual disagreement. Because of this imbalance, the brain will automatically give wrong information to our conscious at times, creating a deep sense of insecurity, which anyone can decide to ignore, but is fundamental in nature.

I plan and hope to create a smooth link, so all my thoughts are always congruent to reality and the present at all times.



:)
 
Quote from Susannah:

Someone posted this on another thread a while ago and it helped me quite a bit. It's an article about how to boost your willpower:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/how-to-boost-your-willpower/

Turns out that your willpower is better when your blood sugar is higher. I find that having a glass of Koolaid helps a lot sometimes, especially since I have a tendency to not eat or drink much while I'm trading.

Also, your willpower is finite, so if something else is requiring willpower it will drain the willpower you have for other things.

The article is actually based on studies they did, not just speculation.
More...

drinking koolaid while trading..

sweet
 
Quote from Susannah:


Turns out that your willpower is better when your blood sugar is higher. I find that having a glass of Koolaid helps a lot sometimes..
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You are so right. Studying market behavior for long periods (screentime) and intense trading are concentrated cerebral activites. I bluntly refer to sugar intake, sweet drinks or confectionery, as a 'sugar hit'. I even use the phrase, as does another member of my family, as 'I need a sugar hit'.
:)
 
Quote from Raptor Deus:



As mentioned this is not simply about 'lacking' discipline, this is about constant or repetitive spurts of uncontrollable irrational behavior that occur without warning, besides other things. I consider myself very disciplined physically, but mentally is another story.

I think of it as having 'natural tendencies' that go against one's best interest. If I have to pick between 5 different options, my brain will naturally pick the most challenging, this is a problem that not only covers trading, but life in general.
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OK, maybe you might have a bit more serious issues then first meets the eye, and I don't mean in a bad way, and maybe medication is the way to go. Though here is something to think about. The disagreements between conscious and subconscious mind are causing people self-sabotage, and exactly as you wrote, the brain will pick the worst option for you, usually the one that is not in the best of your interest. Seems like a SELF-SABOTAGE to me which is caused by your subconscious, and chemical imbalance might have nothing to do with it.

Also if you are stressed or anxious you might get your adrenaline high, and in such situation our mental processing and decision making capabilities get severely affected and we act irrationally, not just you, it applies to all of us. Once again I'm not a therapist, so please take what I write with some reservation, and I wish you all the best and you'd like to see you back doing well. :)
 
Quote from Mr.Consistent:

Seems like a SELF-SABOTAGE to me which is caused by your subconscious, and chemical imbalance might have nothing to do with it.

I wish you all the best and you'd like to see you back doing well. :)
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Thanks for your reply and best wishes. I also understand your position completely. I had always wondered why some people would 'need' medication, if all of us have the power to instruct our brain to do whatever we wish. I also thought it was irrational for somebody to just have depression, when all you supposedly have to do is cheer yourself and be happy.

I am not a therapist either, so I am not sure if this is even close, as stated earlier, but I think that if there is a chemical imbalance in the brain, the brain will not function properly at all times. With time what happens is that our conscious will not just blindly trust everything we think, but will start to question it, making our brain go into 'thinking' overdrive.

I am 41 years old, and it took me all these years to figure this out. Amazing. When things didn't work out, I thought it was just destiny, bad luck, that I was a perfectionist, laziness, name a reasonable reason and it was there.

I am only sharing this because probably somebody is going through the same long term ups(successes) and downs(failures), like a roller coaster type of life not understanding why.

To finish up I figure that if chemistry is the origin of the problem, it should also be the source of the solution.

I never though I would wish this, but hey, I hope to be 'normal and boring' someday.

:p
 
Quote from antincedo:

ok folks, i dunno whats wrong with me. i am such an impatient prick that i just can't seem to wait ........
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Is there any other part of your life where you are peaking too early, there could be a connection.

If there is and you can cure one, then you might cure both
 
Quote from Raptor Deus:



To finish up I figure that if chemistry is the origin of the problem, it should also be the source of the solution.

:p
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You could be right, it is best you get a professional treatment, you could even have bipolar depression. Try to to find psychiatrist who is objective and doesn't over medicate. Try to keep a psychological diary to monitor how your thinking changes over time so you can be objective when assessing your progress.

Take care, look after yourself, and all the best:)

PS; I had to had the last word :D
 
Quote from Raptor Deus:

Thanks for your post Mr. Consistent.

I am not an advocate for fixing anything through the use of drugs, but in my case I see no other way.

As mentioned this is not simply about 'lacking' discipline, this is about constant or repetitive spurts of uncontrollable irrational behavior that occur without warning, besides other things. I consider myself very disciplined physically, but mentally is another story.

I think of it as having 'natural tendencies' that go against one's best interest. If I have to pick between 5 different options, my brain will naturally pick the most challenging, this is a problem that not only covers trading, but life in general.

If I am not mistaken I think it is a chemical imbalance in the brain, which keeps the conscious and subconscious mind in a subtle perpetual disagreement. Because of this imbalance, the brain will automatically give wrong information to our conscious at times, creating a deep sense of insecurity, which anyone can decide to ignore, but is fundamental in nature.

I plan and hope to create a smooth link, so all my thoughts are always congruent to reality and the present at all times.



:)
More...

Let me tell you what I think about what you describe and please don't feel offended as that is not my intention.
I think your problem is that first you talk too much and the second is I assume that you lie and pretend. You might talk the truth now and here but it did take you long before you did and amongst people who know you personally you never would. The balance you live out in company of others is the plain imagination of yourself being successfull, no matter what it is. That you lie I derive from your self description where you claimed that you are/were successfull in most other aspects in life. Would that be the case trading would not bother you. Lying and pretending takes a lot of energy and contrary to the truth it costs you a lot of energy and is blocking any development of your creativity. You are right that your subconcious mind is preventing you from success and the reason is you dont deserve it. I am convinced that you are a nice and good guy.

If I am wrong I am sorry and apologize, just do I know somebody like I just described while this guy describes himself very similar to you do.
 
Quote from Pita:

Let me tell you what I think about what you describe and please don't feel offended as that is not my intention.
I think your problem is that first you talk too much and the second is I assume that you lie and pretend. You might talk the truth now and here but it did take you long before you did and amongst people who know you personally you never would. The balance you live out in company of others is the plain imagination of yourself being successfull, no matter what it is. That you lie I derive from your self description where you claimed that you are/were successfull in most other aspects in life. Would that be the case trading would not bother you. Lying and pretending takes a lot of energy and contrary to the truth it costs you a lot of energy and is blocking any development of your creativity. You are right that your subconcious mind is preventing you from success and the reason is you dont deserve it. I am convinced that you are a nice and good guy.

If I am wrong I am sorry and apologize, just do I know somebody like I just described while this guy describes himself very similar to you do.
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No hard feelings. I don't lie, I have nothing to lie about, and if anything I tend to open up to people way too easily.

What I meant with repeating patterns of success and failures, is working hard to achieve something and then letting it go to waste, against the person's own will, but still doing it conciously. It is not a one day/ time thing but a process.

And most of my friends and family are aware of my new recent discoveries. I like to keep all in suspense.

:D
 
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