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Something that struck me, as we were watching David's powerpoint, was the ambiguous "feelings" (or "primary stories") that he listed as components of recognizing a bi-polar self.  These feelings, at first glance (had I not first read that they belonged to an individual with bi-polar disorder), seemed universal.  These feelings/primary stories included sadness, agitation, anxiety, inadequacy, burdensome... the list goes on.  Do not most people experience these emotions at some point in their life?  It struck me that his model, which was meant to represent a path to the unification of a bipolar self and self, could be applied to so many different facets. 

For instance, David concentrates on the implication of social stigmas.  Social stigmas are thrust upon individuals that are not diagnosed with a mental health problem, just as they are upon those with a mental health problem.  The problem, then, exists on the notion that the individual comes to recognize the stigma as overpowering their own identity or self.  In David's mind, as I interpreted it, his 5-step method can be an adequate reconciliation of social stigma with self on every level of person, not just those diagnosed with a mental health problem.  One must learn to reconcile the social stigma with one's own belief and ultimately put more weight and respect toward one's own self in order to overcome the stigma -- is it not the same concept that therapy for those with diagnosed mental health problems concentrates upon?

All in all, I thought that this ambiguous nature of self versus social stigmatized self is applicable quite universally.