An alarming 34 per cent of teens have admitted to lying about having a mental illness, according to a survey.

Their phantom problems include eating disorders, depression, addiction and self-harm.

The attention seeking teens claim they have been influenced by stars who speak openly about their problems, such as Kerry Katona and Britney Spears.

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