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psychological problems

  • #21
  • Aug 3, 2023 7:03am Aug 3, 2023 7:03am
Quoting hoc-trade
Just remember that a loss trade is not necessarily based on bad decisions, and that a win trade is not necessarily based on good decisions. It is easy to confuse a single trade outcome (which is still to a large extent random) with a structural problem in the strategy or your behavior (outcome bias). However, it is easy to get into this toxic spiral of adjusting your behavior if you see losses, and that effect is accelerated as you trade on a live account.
Absolutely! Market movements involve an element of randomness, and individual trades can be influenced by various factors beyond one's control.
  • #22
  • Aug 3, 2023 7:08am Aug 3, 2023 7:08am
[quote=Mertens;14522544]
Quoting Mr.Nobodyy
{quote} Maybe you will like this one: "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" by Carol S. Dweck
Ive read thinking fast and slow and its really nice. I haven't the other two. Ill chdck it out
Trading is gambling. So gamble responsibly.
  • #23
  • Jan 25, 2026 7:49pm Jan 25, 2026 7:49pm
Here is another excellent book that among the rest has a great part focused on understanding the market but also the job as a daytrade. It’s from Alexander Elder and the title is “Trading for a living.” It gives an excellent and different perspective to daytrading from a psychological pov. To treat it as a business. Also the comparison with the AA concept is good. Instead of focusing on the win, focus on the loss and how long you can avoid making a significant loss. It truly helped me develop as a trader and can say that this is the single book that helped me build the right trading psychology.
  • #24
  • Jan 27, 2026 3:25am Jan 27, 2026 3:25am
Quoting sisucoro
I noticed that I have a psychological problem, the simpthoms are clear, in demo I win, in live I lose, and a lot. Cannot understand why, I don't notice that I get more nervous or anxious, just it happens in that way, I can switch from day to day and it keeps happening, really frustrating. Anybody have any advice about that? any kind of help will be highly welcomed thanks in advance
You need a system that allows you to break away from the charts and not be staring at them 24/7.

If you don't have a system, you are allowing yourself to be easily manipulated into stacking losing trades.
  • #25
  • Jan 27, 2026 7:15pm Jan 27, 2026 7:15pm
Quoting sisucoro
I noticed that I have a psychological problem, the simpthoms are clear, in demo I win, in live I lose, and a lot. Cannot understand why, I don't notice that I get more nervous or anxious, just it happens in that way, I can switch from day to day and it keeps happening, really frustrating. Anybody have any advice about that? any kind of help will be highly welcomed thanks in advance
My advice is to use an EA to trade for you. Totally emotionless and beats sitting in front of the screen for hours..
Sit down and write a clear, step by step prompt for AI to write for you. It may take many attempts to get code error free, but then backtest, optimize and demo trade.
Then trade live on small lots..
Im only here for the Guzzoline...
  • #26
  • Feb 6, 2026 7:43pm Feb 6, 2026 7:43pm
Well it’s trading. Sometimes I used to sit for months waiting for good setups, especially when the market was consolidating. Of course it’s hard psychologically to see the whole day in front of a chart and not see any entry points. Maybe you’re in the wrong phase of the market, while on demo you used to trade in a strong trendy market, like @vanca already mentioned in the thread. In this case, I can recommend you only to be patient and write everything to trading journal to track your behaviour, whenever you switch to live trading.
  • #27
  • Feb 17, 2026 10:40am Feb 17, 2026 10:40am
Well, first of all, demo isn’t live trading. When you trade real money, your attitude changes because it’s all in the brain - loss avoidance and reward mechanism (read some psychology behind traders’ behaviors/decision making).
To me it seems conniving because it’s subtle, you don’t notice it at the start - you’re seeing only the result or when things have already accumulated. Like at the beginning, you enter a bit too early or you exit a bit too late…you see? It’s tiny shift, and it gets unnoticed because you’re like “I’m in control, all solid.” Or you just are not sure about a potentially good setup. And then all that gets accumulated with time and reaches its critical mass - the pattern has been formed.
Demo has no urgency, and live gives attachment to trade outcomes.
What helped me is I trade very small, so a potential outcome is insignificant hence I’m not attached to that. And I forgot about my pnl. I just ask myself if I followed my rule(s). You can even compare yourself being in this mode for like a week or 2 and then concluding if you stayed within the set limits.That’s it. Hope it helps...
  • #28
  • Feb 22, 2026 11:20pm Feb 22, 2026 11:20pm
Hmmm, it is really interesting....
I always thought that if you are winning in demo, then it means you have a proper tradign system. Therefore, once transitioend into real trading, then there should not be any problem.
I might suspect two things:
-U probable dont "win" even in demo. Maybe you overlook things like comissions, spreads and have lots of hybris.
-U have an edge, but indeed you have serious psychological barriers.
For the second part I d suggst to scale down your commetment in temrs of $ per every single trade. That way, you should have compelte emotioanl attachement. Then, try to jounral ur feelings, lile literaly.. Note what u feel and how and at what moment.
I read in the New Market Wizzards, a trader, named RIchard Burgh (I hope I havent mispelled his surname) had some issues with emotional control. And journaling actually helped him.
  • #29
  • Feb 22, 2026 11:51pm Feb 22, 2026 11:51pm
Not really u need a strategy and a tradin system then u can win in demo as well as in real account
  • #30
  • Mar 1, 2026 1:04am Mar 1, 2026 1:04am
Quoting Rhyss
Not really u need a strategy and a tradin system then u can win in demo as well as in real account
If you have longer term horizon, like a swing trader, that likely is true.

While I'm a Rookie on this forum, I've been on forums like this for well over decade, and sort term trading is very attractive to many. I can see why because back in the days I posted a system that aimed for many 30 pip trades.

Anyway, often a demo don't take into account spread and slippage.
And that's why I started this reply with "longer term horizon", which should equal higher profit targets.
Let's make this very simple.
The demo somehow overlooks 25 pips for a round trip.
If you tested a long term system that made a consistent 1000 pips a trade, you still end up with 1000-25=975 pips profit.
But if your system is designed to take quick 20 pip profits (which is good) the unforeseen 25 pips means 5 pips loss on every trade.
  • #31
  • Mar 31, 2026 10:07pm Mar 31, 2026 10:07pm
That's one of the most widespread issues among traders. If you really have a strong strategy with positive results at demo, then you are ahead of many. I recommend setting yourself a set of rules, and trying to follow them. At the end of each day you can assess how well you did.
  • #32
  • May 7, 2026 11:52pm May 7, 2026 11:52pm
Quoting sisucoro
I noticed that I have a psychological problem, the simpthoms are clear, in demo I win, in live I lose, and a lot. Cannot understand why, I don't notice that I get more nervous or anxious, just it happens in that way, I can switch from day to day and it keeps happening, really frustrating. Anybody have any advice about that? any kind of help will be highly welcomed thanks in advance
Classic demo vs live psychology gap. Your strategy is probably fine. Demo removes all consequence so your brain operates differently. The moment real money is involved hesitation, second guessing and moving stops creep in without you even noticing.
Best fix is going live with genuinely tiny size like using cent accounts. Small enough it does not hurt but real enough you can feel it. That gradually trains the emotional side without the blow up risk. More demo hours will not solve it, only live screen time will.
  • #33
  • May 8, 2026 1:46pm May 8, 2026 1:46pm
One losing trade does not always mean the decision was bad, same as one winning trade does not prove the decision was good. From my experience, psychology became better when I started judging my trades by process, not only by result
  • #34
  • May 8, 2026 10:30pm May 8, 2026 10:30pm
Quoting fxzo3
{quote} Classic demo vs live psychology gap. Your strategy is probably fine. Demo removes all consequence so your brain operates differently. The moment real money is involved hesitation, second guessing and moving stops creep in without you even noticing. Best fix is going live with genuinely tiny size like using cent accounts. Small enough it does not hurt but real enough you can feel it. That gradually trains the emotional side without the blow up risk. More demo hours will not solve it, only live screen time will.
I generally agree as I have experienced both. I am currently trading demo for reasons, and treating it like it is a miilion dollar live account. Serious as a heart attack. Why? Because losing money in a demo account is just as damaging mentally as a real account. If you take your demo trading seriously enough, it is not really any different. How you do one thing is how you do everything. I think your recommendation of a micro lot account is solid though, it sure will reveal some trading psych you didn't experience in demo.
  • #35
  • May 8, 2026 11:15pm May 8, 2026 11:15pm
Quoting sisucoro
I noticed that I have a psychological problem, the simpthoms are clear, in demo I win, in live I lose, and a lot. Cannot understand why, I don't notice that I get more nervous or anxious, just it happens in that way, I can switch from day to day and it keeps happening, really frustrating. Anybody have any advice about that? any kind of help will be highly welcomed thanks in advance
Pretty normal tbh. In demo there’s no emotional pressure, in live even tiny risk changes your decisions without noticing it. Lower size and focus only on following your setup.
  • #36
  • May 9, 2026 11:38am May 9, 2026 11:38am
You are not alone who face this kind frastation. Every newbie face this.

Why this happened:
This happened because of emotions lets break it. when you trade on demo you are free to trade there is no emotions involved. You don't have fear in mind that if you loose money. When you trade on real money there is alot of things circulating in mind specially when you are not confident and there is no logic behind the trade.

Solution:

Always prepair before the trade like manage your risk to reward. My recommendation to set RR 1:3 or 1:5 minimum. and put your margin maximum 5% of your capital not more than this. When you do it you will be freely to trade and there is no fear in your mind and you will take decisions logically not emotionally.

Best of luck
  • #37
  • May 10, 2026 4:52am May 10, 2026 4:52am
In my opinion, once someone understands the basics, trading a small real account like $10-$50 teaches far more than staying too long on demo. Demo is useful for learning the platform and testing ideas, but emotionally it feels completely different because there’s no real risk attached to the decisions.
On demo, most people don’t truly feel pressure, hesitation, fear, greed, revenge trading, or the urge to overtrade. A live account exposes those things very quickly. It shows you your real habits, your impatience, your discipline level, and sometimes the “monster” inside that demo trading hides.
Real market conditions are also different. Live accounts involve spread fluctuations, slippage, execution differences, and psychological stress that demo environments often fail to replicate properly.
That’s why I believe a small live account, with proper risk management, can teach more about real trading behavior than months of emotionless demo trading.
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
  • #38
  • Last Post: May 14, 2026 9:30pm May 14, 2026 9:30pm
Quoting arjunansh
In my opinion, once someone understands the basics, trading a small real account like $10-$50 teaches far more than staying too long on demo. Demo is useful for learning the platform and testing ideas, but emotionally it feels completely different because there’s no real risk attached to the decisions. On demo, most people don’t truly feel pressure, hesitation, fear, greed, revenge trading, or the urge to overtrade. A live account exposes those things very quickly. It shows you your real habits, your impatience, your discipline level, and sometimes...
I totally agree with everything you said. I started demo 2023 and got funded live account April 2025 it has been a year of trading a live account without any payout I am at -5.3% loss but it has taught me a lot I focused on risk management, I have decided to slow down take smaller positions and stay actively trading as long as I could without having to break any of the rules. Real market conditions are a hundred leagues different from demo. With over a year of trading my live account I am on a recovery phase and I sure hope to get my first reward soon. But I am more proud of myself for staying funded and disciplined !
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