I never went out and bought cars or a house or did really off the wall things. Well....then again, if I think about it, maybe I have done some crazy things.
Anyway, no, you don't have to be that radical to be bipolar. But it is more complicated than that just to get diagnosed with bipolar. If it was that easy, everyone would be bipolar.
There are different degrees of bi-polar and everyone's is a little different. I would thinkn the different brain chemistry would cause everyone to experience something a little differently than everyone else. While most of us exhibit a majority of the same symptoms we all experience different ones as well.
So in a long-winded response to your question....yes.