I'm an actual psychologist and I have seen an increase in people claiming they have depression. It's because life can be so overwhelming these days with Internet so ingrained in our society and other people's life constantly 'mocking' you how much better they have it. They don't, but that's another story.

But it's like you said also a way for insecure people to not let people depend on them. That's what most people are so damn scared of these days: to be relied on. To get that level of responsibility kinda overloads people's brains these days and their fear of making mistakes.

By saying you're depressed or can't handle the pressure basically deflects any responsibility and avoids it. It's kinda like posting a picture online of yourself and saying "omfg im so ugly" or a drawing and say "I was so bored so I decided to randomly draw this" - it's all about diverting expectations.

All those things have in common they want to avoid responsibility but also have a safety net if someone does call them ugly or their drawing shitty.

In the end it's just all insecurity. And playing the victim absolves you of most pressure. At least, that's what people think. All it does is makes you feel shittier about yourself rather then when you go for something head on and fail, and then try again and succeed.