i love trading,no two ways about it.however,it can lead to serious depression and other ailments due to the stressful nature of trading..i'm talking about trading for a living,it is the most stressful occupation out there,next to being a soldier in Iraq..i've experienced first hand whats its like to literally have the life drained from you..it can not only ruin your health but it can wreak havoc on a marriage,friendships,and other facets of one's life..why do i still do it? well,i am much more disciplined and do not allow myself to take a big loss.i try and maintain as mucg control as possible and no longer take big risks such as holding a day trade overnight because it did'nt work out..or buying after hours on a headline number(earnings) only to see it crash and be forced to double down and hope that the fater hours activity was a bunch of "manipulation"..(yeah right!!!). then i see the host of downgrades the next day and beat myself up as to why i just did'nt accept a loss and liquidate after hours...i used to do that quite often;taking a big loss during regular trading hours and then hope for that big score after hours on some momo tech play that was reporting earnings..i no longer even think about doing that;it is the quickest way to the poor house going...also,buying a pre-market gap up on supposed good news only to see it tank at the open...i've done it all and its humbled me tremendously as well as make me so much more disciplined..
They put a bunch of Vietnam Vets, suffering post traumatic stress disorder, in the chicago pits in the eighties. Many were able to function normally after spending their days there. They said it was the closest thing to comat they experienced.
I use to lose sleep over trading forex in the middle of the night, I would wake up throughout the night, and even had a PDA next to the bed to check prices. When my wife was oncall, I would hook up a laptop to a projector and have charts displayed on the ceiling. Then your sleep/alpha/REM time gets behind. Then feel lousy the next day. Then you realize nothing in life is worth losing sleep over. You have to always save a certain portion of your day for others. Honestly I could spend hours and hours pouring over data, and analysis trying to look into the future.