The Hidden Cost of the Charts: How Crypto Trading Impacts Mental Health

Crypto markets are infamous for their ￰0￱ ( BTC ) can surge by 20% overnight, only to lose the same amount by the morning. Traders, tethered to price charts and social media feeds, often find themselves caught in an endless cycle of hope, fear, and ￰1￱ therefore shouldn’t come as a surprise that recent studies have found crypto trading to have a huge impact on mental ￰2￱ in-depth review from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) states, “Cryptocurrency trading seemingly mirrors the high-risk, high-reward nature of gambling, and may cause significant psychological challenges to traders.” The report from NLM studied 11,177 participants across multiple ￰3￱ on behavioral traits, the report believes that crypto traders are more prone to anxiety and depression linked to negative ￰4￱ may also exhibit elation associated with gains, along with addictive behaviors that may perpetuate trading despite losses.

NLM’s study further found that cryptocurrency traders showed higher levels of psychological distress, stress, COVID-19 anxiety, and perceived loneliness compared to non-investors.) October 11, 2025 Other stories circulated on Reddit and social media platforms like X, where crypto traders mentioned “how they lost everything” and that “they couldn’t tell their families.” mental health post many people lost their lives due to crypto crash on october 10 the same happened today when the cs2 skins market suddenly collapsed but here is the truth: no single asset deserves all of your money, no single market deserves all of your trust crypto can… ￰5￱ — Hanzo (@DeFi_Hanzo) October 24, 2025 Even if these outcomes were not as tragic as Kostya’s, the symptoms crypto investors face are likely ￰6￱ put this in perspective, a 2023 global meta-analysis found that people under financial stress are 74% more likely to attempt ￰7￱ Awareness For The Crypto Industry To Do More Given the high suicide rate linked to financial stress, it has become apparent that the crypto industry must do more to promote discussions around mental health and ￰8￱ Kemmerer, co-founder and CEO of Coinledger – a crypto tax software solution – told Cryptonews that he used to check Bitcoin charts from the very moment he woke up.

“It feels thrilling, then over time, it wears you ￰9￱ is no resting and the chronic arousal accelerates decision fatigue and anxiety,” Kemmerer ￰10￱ added that crypto trading is very similar to gambling, particularly when it comes to chasing losses. “Small wins are seen as reinforcement and it is common to want to recover after a ￰11￱ pattern increases risk for addiction behavior and mood disorders.” Moreover, Kemmerer believes that crypto traders often tie their portfolio to their character and self-worth. “When markets surge, it is a win for them, and instead of them considering it a financial loss, it becomes a personal failure as ￰12￱ are no boundaries in this sector, and emotional ups and downs result in anxiety, burnout and depression since failures feel like character ￰13￱ some cases, the depression escalates to suicide,” Kemmerer ￰14￱ being the case, Kemmerer pointed out that it has become critical for the crypto sector to focus on mental health.

“Everyone in the industry should encourage conversations around trader ￰15￱ possible, it should be a standard, like security audits and compliance checks,” he ￰16￱ Help Through Community Support Although mental health and wellness is still not widely discussed in the crypto sector, there are ways for the community to improve ￰17￱ to Kemmerer, crypto exchanges and platforms can start by encouraging users to take breaks after high trading ￰18￱ added that crypto platforms could also redirect traders to mental health resources during market crashes. “For example, these platforms could add an order delay toggle to increase the cognitive cost of impulsive ￰19￱ example is a dashboard with a reality check modal for >X% drawdown, that requires a pause and shows tax/realized loss projections,” he ￰20￱ Lazar, a mental health expert and founder of Creators 4 Mental Health, told Cryptonews that awareness and boundaries are key here as well.

“Just as people track their portfolios, they need to track their mental well-being – how much time they’re online, how reactive they are to market swings, and whether they’re still finding joy in what they’re building,” Lazar ￰21￱ added that best practices to ensure mental health include taking breaks from screens, creating set “trading hours,” and grounding oneself in community or offline activities. “Mental health isn’t separate from innovation – it’s what sustains it,” she said. Additionally, crypto investors suffering from addiction and life threatening thoughts may also consider seeking out 12-step programs, similar to those used for gambling or alcohol addictions.

A recent article from the mental health publication FasPsych notes that a 12-step program called “Bitcoin Anonymous” can offer community support for those struggling with Bitcoin trading addiction. B. C. Kowalski, founder of the FrugalBC YouTube channel, further told Cryptonews that the crypto ecosystem has great communities that can provide help around this topic.

“I am active in Algorand communities and starting to become more active in Hedera communities,” Kowalski said. “I think sharing personal experiences with others in the same boat can have a tremendous impact on one’s mental ￰22￱ might have solutions to your problems or, if nothing else, having other people going through the same thing always helps – at least it has for me.” Seeking Help If you or someone you know is struggling, help is ￰23￱ the U. S., call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis ￰24￱ the U. K., contact Samaritans at 116 ￰25￱ Canada, call or text 988 (nationwide).