Luxury rehab centers now offer therapy for ‘crypto addiction’

There was a time when Don was flowing up to $200,000 (£164,700) every week in cryptocurrency trades.

He slept well and would stay up into the wee hours to monitor prices and portfolio balance. “I would sweat before going on long-haul flights because I wouldn’t be able to access the internet,” he said.

Don works at a company that processes central bank digital currency (CBDC) transactions. He did not want to use his real name and wants to remain anonymous because he fears his comments could trigger a backlash from investors.

He says he went into a “downward spiral” in mid-2022 – and that’s when he decided to seek help.

The solution came in the form of a four-week stay at The Balance, a sprawling rehabilitation center with dozens of employees on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

Don lived in a private villa and was looked after by his own butler and chef. His treatment included therapy, but also massages, yoga and bike rides, all for a hefty bill: upwards of $75,000.

Founded in Zurich, with properties in London and Majorca, The Balance describes itself as a “safe space that enables health and fulfillment”. The landing page has pictures of a beachfront villa, spa and glowing testimonials from previous clients. The center lists treatment programs for anxiety, burnout, depression, post-traumatic stress disorders and eating disorders.

Don says it helped him “wean off crypto”.

The pandemic and a volatile crypto market have spurred a trading frenzy in digital currencies. And now, luxury rehab centers are popping up around the world, promising to treat “crypto addiction.”

Most of the rehab centers the BBC found appear to be of the luxury variety, and also offer treatment for other addictions: drugs, alcohol and eating disorders. Three rehabilitation centers and two addiction clinics contacted by the BBC said they had received hundreds of related inquiries over the past two years.

But addiction experts are skeptical that crypto trading warrants such an exorbitant intervention.

“Treatment for crypto addiction is similar to other addictions,” says Anna Lembke, a psychiatry professor at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic.

“It is a biopsychosocial disease, so it requires a biopsychosocial intervention: medication in some cases, individual and group psychotherapy, changing habits and environment, (or) implementing healthier replacement activities.”

But, she adds, the cost is not always justified. Experts like her argue that it is akin to gambling and should be treated as such.

“They’re making money off of desperate people,” says Lia Nower, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at the Rutgers School of Social Work. “Whether you are ‘addicted’ to trading crypto, betting on sports or playing the lottery, the symptoms and treatment will be largely the same.”

Like other addictions, treatment for crypto addiction should begin with abstinence and managing withdrawal symptoms — which can include anxiety, irritability and insomnia, Lembke said. “No crypto trading or viewing for at least four weeks, which gives the brain a chance to reset reward pathways. [withdrawal] the symptoms are usually limited in time and can be managed with emotional support and reassurance that they will eventually go away.”

In the long run, the treatment will also include healthier options for financial investments, she added.

Crypto addiction treatment is a nascent business, so it does not yet require specific certifications. Most of the therapists and managers of the rehabilitation center the BBC spoke to describe themselves as certified counselors for mental health and a range of addictions, from alcohol to substance abuse, gambling and gambling.

The centers argue that while crypto addiction has strong parallels with gambling, it is also more addictive – for one, it is more exciting because it is so volatile, and the trades can happen around the clock.

“Crypto trading has a sense of being legitimate, while gambling is more talked about as potentially problematic,” said Jan Gerber, CEO of Zurich-based rehabilitation center Paracelsus Recovery.

Seeking help is also less common, he adds, because crypto trading is largely unregulated. In contrast, some countries require gambling platforms and casinos to proactively identify and exclude problem gamblers, or provide information and tools on how to deal with signs of addiction.

The signs of a crypto addiction are also not that different.

Those addicted to crypto trading are increasingly turning to it as a source of “excitement and joy in life,” said Aaron Sternlicht, who runs New York-based Family Addiction Specialist with his wife, Lin.

He says telltale signs include lying, stealing, debt; have trouble relaxing or sleeping; monitoring crypto prices at all times; and trading at the expense of relationships, career and educational opportunities.

Don, for example, sought treatment options when his girlfriend broke up with him after she realized the extensive losses he had suffered during the 2022 crypto crash.

Jane, a 32-year-old Londoner whose name has been changed on request, said she would go on “trading benders” lasting three to four days, which convinced her partner she was having an affair.

“The fact that I couldn’t tell him what I actually did made it worse. Even though the truth is out now, our relationship was never fully healed.”

Jane started buying crypto in 2014. “In the beginning I only invested a couple of grand, but in the end I could put down hundreds of thousands in just one trade,” she says.

She eventually sought help from Paracelsus Recovery, where programs for crypto addiction range from four to six weeks, at a weekly cost of $104,000 (£85,000). Online therapy sessions cost $650 an hour. Treatment involves blood tests, customized diet plans, yoga, acupuncture and medication where necessary, she added, describing it as a “360-degree approach” to mental health.

Crypto addicts often need help setting limits, such as trading time limits and stop-loss limits, orders with instructions to close a position when it reaches a certain price, to protect investors from excessive losses.

Therapists at the center help them set such boundaries, said Abdullah Boulad, executive director and founder of The Balance. But he added that they are not requiring clients to go cold turkey, or require them to completely disconnect from their devices.

Crypto addiction, experts say, is also often diagnosed because of other conditions.

Keith, who also did not want to use his real name, said he went to Paracelsus Recovery because of an addiction to sleeping pills, but later found crypto addiction was the root cause.

The 51-year-old says he got hooked on crypto trading during the Covid-19 lockdown.

“We were all isolated. This made it easy to act in secret,” he says.

“It wasn’t until my children came to stay with me over Christmas that I realized how erratic I had become. I was hostile towards them and they were worried that I slept for days at a time. Yet, all the time, no one of us thought my trade was part of the problem.”