How to Use the Reality Theory to Explain Depression

Reality theory is an approach to mental health that seeks to reduce all human drives, wants and needs to five elements: power, belonging, freedom, fun and survival. All human action can be reduced to the human drive for these things, and the social nature of man derives from these needs. When any of these are not achieved, or the person thinks they are not achievable, depression sets in.

Instructions

• 1

  See if the patient, first of all, feels out of control. This is one of the most essential parts of reality theory/therapy. A person may feel depressed if they think that others control them and they have no control over others.

• 2

  Ascertain if the patient feels unlovable and unloved. This is another means for depression to set in. For such cases, a strategy should be developed to meet new people and to build a real social life. A lack of love or social acceptance is an important cause of depression according to reality theory.

• 3

  See if the patient lacks real social attachments (or at least feels this way). The lack of social attachments is an important cause of depression according to reality theory. Belonging, love, control and freedom are all needs that, if frustrated, cause depression and a sense of meaninglessness.

• 4

  Seek to find signs of boredom in patients. A lack of fun, regular recreation and other means of release is also an important cause of depression. Strategies must be put in place to alter the way people act (not so much the way they think), and new forms of interaction can alleviate the signs of depression that derive from the frustration of these needs. A life of drudgery and work can lead to the frustration of the natural desire for release and fun and can cause depression.

• 5

  Remember most of all that reality theory holds that the way people act will create how they think. A strong social life will create a sense of control and belonging, while isolation and labor will frustrate these desires. Without strong socialization and the occasional lack of inhibitions, depression can be the mind's reaction to this. Understanding depression is the understanding of the social drives that make human beings human. Without it, the mind revolts, and depression is the external manifestation of this revolt.