Medical student syndrome is a kind of self-imposed literary hypochondria. In layman's terms, that means that someone reads about an illness and starts to think that they have it. Of course, it's not limited to med students. Basically anyone who reads is susceptible, and thus it's natural, particularly where mental illnesses are concerned. The thing with mental illnesses is that they run full spectrum; what distinguishes clinical depression from garden variety depression is the severity and duration of the former are greater than for the latter. In conclusion, we're all a little off our rockers, so we might as well enjoy the ride.