One of my teachers once told a joke about a young man who was late for an appointment and explained to his girlfriend that it was because he was seeing his therapist, and the upset was removed from her mind. Of course this is something that happens in Western countries. In Western society, seeing a psychiatrist is a rather dignified thing to do. Maybe it’s the difference between Eastern and Western cultures, but our situation here is quite different. Although most of my patients come voluntarily or even on their own initiative, most of them have been delayed for a long time before coming in. Some of them come without their family and friends, and take their medication secretly to avoid others’ worry or lack of understanding. As a patient, in addition to the mental pain and physical discomfort caused by the mental illness itself (many mental illnesses are accompanied by some or many physical symptoms), you may also feel the lack of understanding and even cold eyes from people around you. In addition, serious or long-term adverse psychological state may significantly affect the quality of life and social functions (such as work, study, interaction, etc.), and may cause or aggravate certain physical diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, hyperthyroidism, peptic ulcer, chronic colitis, urticaria, arthritis, malignant tumors… …Because the occurrence, development and regression of these diseases are closely related to psychological factors, they are also called “psychosomatic diseases”. Therefore, as patients, their suffering and plight is multifaceted! However, it is common that some patients are mistaken by their family members and friends who do not think they are sick, worried, or lazy, petty, petty, weak-willed, or have thought problems, etc.. There are also some family members or friends and relatives will “care” about their side of the mental disorder patients: “you look good, do not want to go to the side of the line, do not have to go to see what disease to take what medicine, or good people also eat bad”. This attitude seems to be caring, considerate and respectful, but in fact it may imply that “I can’t accept that my relative or friend has a mental disorder”, or that they lack mental health knowledge. Many patients thus delay treatment or stop treatment prematurely, leading to chronic or recurrent mental illness. There are some more lamentable examples: a female university student with already severe psychological symptoms (repeated washing all day, bad mood, scolding her parents, and shutting up) and refusing to see a doctor for medication. Her parents, an intellectual couple, decided to “let her live like this as long as she wants, and we will support her for the rest of her life”. Their unconditional love for their daughter is touching, but is this what their daughter really needs? Obviously not. So when should you seek the help of a psychologist? There is no absolute standard, but we can consider the following aspects: 1. psychological pain (such as tension and anxiety, low mood, irritability, fear, insomnia, etc.), which is difficult to be relieved by self-adjustment and other means, so that daily life, work, study, interaction, leisure, etc. are affected; 2. various physical symptoms for which no clear cause can be found, and symptomatic treatment is not effective, such as Various pains, dizziness, chest tightness, palpitations, dyspnea, throat discomfort, abdominal pain and distension, poor appetite, constipation, urinary frequency and urgency, sexual dysfunction, etc.; 3. Changes in personality or behavior patterns that are difficult to find reasonable explanations. 4. Symptoms or indicators of certain physical diseases (especially the above-mentioned “psychosomatic diseases”) are always poorly controlled (e.g., blood pressure, blood sugar). Mental or spiritual activity is a higher function of the brain and the most vulnerable and problematic part of the human body. In today’s increasingly competitive world, who can say that they will not suffer from psychological problems? When you or someone around you suffers (or may suffer) from a mental illness, you need to be diagnosed and treated as early as possible, and you also need to get (give) adequate family and social support.