http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi-polar_disorder Controversy
A debate rages in the medical community on the prevalence of bipolar disorders.
[45] Concerns have arisen about the potential for overdiagnosis of BD.
[46] One controversy has been the validity of the construct of a mental disorder across different cultural perspectives (Lopez & Guarnaccia 2000, Sher & Trull 1996).
[47] Culture-bound syndromes represent recurrent patterns of maladaptive behaviors and/or troubling experiences specifically associated with different cultures or localities (APA, 1994b).
[48] It can be difficult to distinguish between age-appropriate restlessness, the fidgeting of children with
ADHD, and the purposeful busy activity of mania (Harrington & Myatt, 2003).
[49] Further complicating the diagnosis: Abused or traumatized children can seem to have bipolar disorder when they are actually reacting to horrors in their lives.
[50] Assumptions regarding behavior, particularly in regard to diagnosing bipolar disorder, ADHD, and mania in children and adolescents, have raised considerable questions regarding unnecessary treatment. Antipsychotic drugs prescribed for the treatment of BD may increase risk to health including heart problems, diabetes, liver failure, and death.
[51] "Consequences of overdiagnosis … include exposure to a greater medication burden (in some cases requiring additional monitoring) as well as lesser likelihood of clinical improvement."
[52] When checking for a misdiagnosis of Bipolar disorder or confirming a diagnosis of Bipolar disorder, it is useful to consider what other medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative conditions relevant to diagnosis.
[53]