Since when did mental illness become a fad? Since when did mental illness become an accessory (the new must-have item) that self-diagnosing teens carry with them as a way to show off how strong they are? There is a running joke that artists and writers cannot be successful unless they're suffering and struggling with crippling depression. Now, it seems as though teens feel they cannot be seen as brave and resilient without having suffered through a mental illness of some sort. But self-diagnosis is dangerous. It changes the cognitive framework of the mind and has the power to completely transform someone you once knew until they are no longer recognizable... until the depression, the panic, and the anxiety start speaking for themselves.