When do you know that you need to see a psychologist? What are the signs you should look for?

individual will isolate him/her self.. self deficit care, low self esteem, helpless, changes in sleep pattern.. appetite id distubed

Very easyWhen you can see a change in  one of the basic functions, such as work , family and / or social relations.

One needs to see a psychologist when there is a negative view of the self and environment; in essence cognitive restructuring so that a negative view can be changed to positive views of self and the environment.  In other cases when coping skills are impaired, stress intolerance is present, low self-esteem is consuming a person and lack of confidence and assertiveness.

Usually people think you need to be affected to see a psychologist and this is wrong. Everybody should see a psychologist by default and then listen and think if it's important or maybe we need to wait... Anyone who feels unheared is a good prospect to see a psychologist.

A perosn needs to see a psychologist affect suffering a trauma, loss of loved one or property, depression, loss of appetitte, insomina, neglect of personal hygiene, etc

I need to see a psychologist when my lifstyle will be non organized well,

if i am sleeping a lot more than 12 hours, and im not feeling that i have objectives in my life

If i am hearing confused and non real sounds

If i imagine that all people is talking negatively about me

if i didnt find a good listenner to my problems

if i am not living the real emotions

If i cannot find a way to solve my problems....

Many thanks for your invitation Yazan: this is a really challenging issue for an experienced clinician !

However, I fear this is a culturally biased circumstance, in a way or another, so not easy to respond lightheartedly :)

In fact, we talk about ethno-psychiatry and ethno-psychology to define clinical sectors where specialists study, investigate and compare similar behavioural outcomes in different cultures.

Having clinically worked extensively in Italy and the UK (often) with multicultural families, I can assume that anxious and depressive states or manifestations are quite similar in all western countries but I definitely won't put my hand on fire there on a totally overlapping agreement between myself and arabic or pakistani (just to mention a couple of non-western medical approaches) colleagues on a specific pathognomonic sign in a psychiatric/psychological perspective.   

Best lesson learnt from experience (much more than from books) is often caution, prudence and deep human respect are highest diagnostic tools in ambiguous or not well defined clinical signs.

In this framework, may I respectfully ask to hear from non-western colleagues their opinion (and utilisation) of DSM (now published in its 5th edition, at least in Italy) ?

Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

Thank you.

A person needs for a Clinical Psychologist only, when he/she notices that his/her behaviors or functionings are causing distress in his/her personal, social or occupational life. 

When you want to talk to someone about your thoughts feelings or you need to psychologist when expert refer to psychologist