There's a very common but rarely seriously discussed phenomenon in trading.

When making money, trading is often very "normal":
There's a plan, there's rhythm, position sizing is reasonable, and stop losses are executed decisively.
But the moment you suffer a few consecutive losses, it's like the entire system gets replaced.
What used to be trading only one pattern suddenly becomes wanting to try every opportunity;
Fixed position sizing suddenly becomes one position heavier than the last;
Stop losses that were set get ignored when price reaches them - thinking "let me wait a bit longer."

Looking back at those trades later, you feel like a stranger to them:
Did I really make these trades?

In reality, most people don't lose to the market.
They lose to——
that period of time after the losses.

Many problems aren't that the system changed, but that the person changed.

**I. Trading becomes distorted, often starting from "I need to earn that money back"**

After losing money, people's most natural reaction is:
"I have to earn that back."

This sounds normal, but it's actually quietly changing your trading logic.

Originally, trading was about waiting for opportunities;
But once "I need to earn this back" gets into your head, things slowly start to taste different.

You're no longer just waiting for opportunities, you're actively searching for them everywhere.
These two look similar, but they're completely different.

Then many things start to change:
More opportunities appear, trading becomes more frequent, position sizing slowly increases.

On the surface it looks like effort, but really it's rushing to break even.
And rushing to break even is often the starting point for trading spiraling out of control.

**II. After consecutive losses, people start to doubt their system**

There's a very subtle psychological shift in trading:
When making money, we believe in the system;
When losing money, we doubt the system.

Many strategies already allow for drawdowns.
But when several trades go wrong in a row, the brain automatically generates an explanation:
Is the method not working?

So you start to:
switch timeframes, switch indicators, switch entry methods.

On the surface it looks like optimization, but really it's often just escaping the discomfort that losses bring.

A system is meant to be executed long-term,
but driven by emotion, many people make changes at exactly the wrong time, frequently changing course.

Slowly, trading is no longer being executed by the system, but by emotion.