While I believe some kids don’t fit the requirements, people believe the false story that other countries don’t have the same level of bipolar diagnosis, when in fact they’re not all that different, and one reason we seem to have more is that it’s simply diagnosed properly here, while in less-sophisticated places they don’t catch it, treat it, or even believe in it.
When I worked in patient Child Psych 20+ years ago, the diagnosis was unheard of. We thought we could pick them out, and probably did. I think there still is a hesitancy to put such a heavy duty label on the kids, which I can’t totally disagree with, unless they are sure it’s Bipolar.