Crypto winter can take a toll on hodlers’ mental health – Cointelegraph Magazine

With so many struggling to maintain emotional well-being during this crypto winter, self-improvement and mental health experts can help navigate the ups, downs and soul-shattering experiences that a long-term bear market can bring.

Mental health professional Elizabeth Sterbenz and wellness thought leader Srikumar Rao discuss with Magazine how to cope with the depreciation of crypto portfolios, move forward and illuminate intuitive happiness. Sterbenz is a licensed psychotherapist in California specializing in individual, couples and financial therapy. Rao is an international speaker and executive business coach with a PhD from Columbia University. He teaches a course at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University that merges Eastern philosophies with modern business practices.

Learn how to ride a tsunami

Rao believes that crypto traders, developers and community members have been hit by a tsunami. They are struggling through a long-term crypto winter that shows no immediate signs of warming. They also celebrated a two-year NFT boom that was quickly followed by a devastating bust.

The community was recently gobsmacked when major figures in the cryptocurrency industry, like Sam Bankman-Fried and Do Kwon, were accused of fraudulent activities, discrediting the industry and harming investors. 

And the hits keep coming. Just weeks ago, the United States Department of Justice and other international authorities took down a Hong Kong-based crypto exchange and arrested its founder in Miami. 

Rao believes that the bear market can be used as an opportunity to learn how to surf the top of the tsunami while calmly observing what’s happening below. He says one can achieve this by accepting that winning is not a requirement for happiness. Happiness doesn’t come from making the right trade or a lot of money. According to Rao, that’s a false belief:

“The thought that you have to have something happen in order to be happy, it’s just false. But you believe in it so strongly because you never really thought about it independently. You’ve just been carried on by the mass hysteria.” 

Sterbenz takes it a step further,…