At times I feel really self-conscious (paranoid?) about going out in public -- especially when I'm feeling clinically depressed. It almost feels like others can read my feelings, which makes me feel really anxious. When I get like this my therapist always points out that other people are too wrapped up in their own issues to notice me. In other words, they're wrapped up in their own depression, self-consciousness, anxiety...or merely their "normal" daily issues. This perspective helps me realize that what I may view as "abnormal" thinking patterns, for the most part are, to a significant degree, really "normal" parts of the human condition...

I don't know how closely this thought adheres to the point ultramar raises, but my therapist's words seem to touch on ultrasmar's definition of "normal." It's not always BP...It's the nature of the human condition.