It is common to see young kids trying to fake illness to find an excuse to skip school but the trend seems to be changing now as serious mental illnesses are now being faked by teenagers to emulate celebrities.

According to a survey, the percentage of teens who admitted to lying about having a mental illness is about 34 per cent.

Self-harm, eating disorders, addiction and depression are some of the major problems these youngsters are facing.

Stars who speak openly about their problems, such as Kerry Katona and Britney Spears, have been influencing these attention-seeking teens.

It was found that one in ten thought mental illnesses are ‘trendy’ with half of those believing it made people ‘unique’, and a quarter thinking it ‘cool’, this was found by an online therapy service, mentaline. com, which conducted the survey.

Celebrity sufferers had made the conditions ‘fashionable’, 16 per cent stated.

Jesper Buch of Mentaline said, “It’s shocking that so many young people think mental health problems are fashionable.”

A clinically recognizable disorder such as a depression or anorexia is suffered by one in ten, which is more than one million, according to a recent government commissioned review of mental health problems among children.