Introduction: I laid down in my bed around 1230 last night and thought that I’d do a bit of research on some crypto’s before I went to sleep. I scrolled through the internet for what I thought was about 20 minutes and then took a look at the clock. It was now 4am. This happens from time to time to everyone. We zone out and get lost in whatever we are doing and lose track of time. The thing is that this seems to happen to me quite often. Admittedly, there are worse things to be using my time on, but I have spent much of the day thinking about whether or not I may be addicted to cryptocurrency and doing research on it. I thought that I’d take a dive into mental health and how it relates to our daily lives through cryptocurrency.
What causes addiction?: According to Healthline, addiction is defined as a “chronic dysfunction of the brain system that involves reward, motivation, and memory. It’s about the way your body craves a substance or behavior, especially if it causes a compulsive or obsessive pursuit of “reward” and lack of concern over consequences.”
If one great motivator of addiction is the pursuit of a reward, it makes sense that the reward could be financial just as often as it could be pleasure. Chasing after a moon bag may be a great dream that could easily become a reality in this market, but if it becomes a constant thought it could become dangerous for your mental health. The instant gratification of making life changing profits are something that the frontal lobe of the brain can abuse quite easily; this ‘malfunction’ of the brain can cause the feelings resulting from a monetary gain to result in a chemical imbalance of dopamine.
In the same way that swiping through a social media feed can cause feelings of instant gratification, the research of cryptocurrency with the dream of striking it rich can produce a similar thirst for gratification through knowledge acquisition.
Takeaway: I am not at all saying that we should stop pursuing gains in our financial lives through cryptocurrency. Crypto has become an important aspect of my life and is honestly in my opinion a key to financial and personal freedom. That being said, I am advocating for a healthy balance between the pursuit of riches and the appreciation of what we have in front of us at the moment. I am finding myself more and more focused on getting rich quick and finding myself constantly thinking about ways to make this a reality. I am forgetting to appreciate my friends and family who are supporting my personal growth as I wrap up my last year of undergrad. I may not have a cryptocurrency addiction, but I want to be careful not to gain one. Remember to appreciate the present while dreaming of the future!
Conclusion: Let me know whether you think there is any validity to this take. I just wanted to remind us all that there is more to life than just money and we need to be sure we are all taking care of ourselves during a time when it is easy to get sucked down a profit-seeking rabbit hole. Cryptocurrency can be addictive, be mindful, be balanced and be safe out there everyone!
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