Depression following a major drawdown

A very interesting/stressful situation for a trade a`ve been read on Coping with Depression following a major drawdown

LordMelbury said:
Hi All

I am 51 and been trading for 7 years full time, i have gone from around $1 million to over $2 million net assets but in just the last 12 weeks i have unbelievably and stupidly lost 600k, 300k thru trading and 300k thru a bad property deal.
LordMelbury saying here:
I was diagnosed with Kidney cancer 6 months ago, which thankfully i caught fairly early, but its been stressful, i have a 16 month baby and one on the way.

I mention the above because i think maybe i was pushing it to hard and trying to go for the home run in case i didn’t make it.( which i`m confident i will now)

I had my blackest day yesterday when i realised that i was 200k worse off then i thought thru a stupid mis calculation of my assets (what a jerk i am).

The feeling of guilt towards my family is immense, and i have been quite distraught and emotional, has anyone had a similar major drawback and come back again ?

( Suffice it to say, i stopped trading yesterday and intend to give it a rest for at least a few days )

His replays:
bgp:
yes, of course ! not as large of #’s ,but yes. dont worry about it . relax and put most of your money in 3-month t-bills . start off trading smaller and dont go for home runs. i have that problem.

good luck,
bgp

Odgnut:
I would definitely take a little break. The last thing you want to do is to trade with the mindset you’re currently in. You would probably trade more aggressively to try to make back your losses and just dig yourself into a bigger hole.

You need to also realize that even the great traders eventually go through large drawdowns at some point in their career. What I find therapeutic is to read some inspirational trading books like “Market Wizards” and “Pit Bull” among others…it’s a great comfort to know that some of the greatest traders in the world go through really bad trading periods…but through discipline and perserverence…they always come back stronger than before.

And If you’re married…I would also be completely open with your wife….you would be amazed how understanding someone that loves you can be….and getting this off your chest should relieve some of that stress. Going through what you’ve been through lately with cancer…I would think that your family values your health much more than any monetary losses you may have incurred.

And 1 million plus is plenty of trading money to work with. When you come back…just trade smaller until you get your mojo back.

Good luck.

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Coping with Depression following a major drawdown