Flash Crash Flashback

This phrase is a label for the anxiety that is connected to a prior flash crash. Anxiety and fear of another flash crash, with corresponding cognitive, behavioral, and emotional symptoms that impact trading decisions.

This is a new clinical phrase, coined by trading psychologist Andrew Menaker, after he was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and asked for his opinion on the impact the flash crash of May 6, 2010 had on traders.

Quote from the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Greenspan turned to Andrew Menaker, who came up with the label "flash-crash flashback" syndrome. Mr. Menaker is a psychologist who consults with traders like Mr. Greenspan over the phone and by email from his San Francisco office and sells self-help videos. He said the number of his clients who are traders has jumped in the past year, with the traders describing "spontaneously re-experiencing the flood of anxiety and fear initially triggered by the crash."

Original WSJ article: Flashbacks Afflict Some Traders