Abstract
In the USA a diagnosis of bipolar disorder is made utilizing criteria from the recently updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, now in its fifth edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). While the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in adults is complex, it has been further complicated in children and adolescents by the demonstration of severely impaired individuals with a less classic presentation (e.g., less euphoria, less episodicity, more irritability), which the criteria, originally written for adults, was argued to not adequately capture. There was much speculation as to whether the revised DSM-5 would alter the diagnostic criteria to account for this group of children and adolescents.