So are bear traps self fulfilling in that someone just has to keep smacking the price around enough that investors lose faith or get bored or whatever long enough that the money flows out?
I do not understand what you mean. Here is a common definition of a bear trap from Investopedia ...
A false signal that the rising trend of a stock or index has reversed when it has not. A bear trap prompts traders to place shorts on the stock or index, since they expect the underlying to decline in value. Instead of declining further, the investment stays flat, or slightly recovers.
