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...but if you haven’t gone through something that at least makes you consider that death might be better, then you haven’t really gone through bad times.

And offing yourself is pure narcissism.

When my wife was in her late 20’s with three children, single digit aged, and no life insurance, her husband died of leukemia. She screamed at God, but never considered suicide. And it actually increased her faith.

When my first wife divorced me “without cause” after 20 years, while we had three teenaged daughters, I cried for three days straight. But I never thought about offing myself. And that experience actually increased my faith as well.

Maybe being a follower of Christ matters. That could be it. ;-)

I have no compassion for those that kill themselves. But the reason may not be what you think. I have no compassion because it would be wasted. They are dead. My compassion is for those who are left to deal with it.

There’s the rub. It’s utterly subjective. Just because you want to off yourself because your dad won’t cosign on your first car loan doesn’t mean that’s proof you are going through bad times.

See, this is the conceit. "Just because your daddy wouldn't give you a car blah blah blah you want to kill yourself." A lot of people simply can't imagine how bad things can get in this life because they've been fortunate enough not to experience it.

I have known a couple of people who suffered a debilitating, extremely painful, chronic disease for YEARS - everyday, for YEARS, in pain and unable to live even the smallest moments of life - and one killed himself, the other did not. Someone like you would reflexively call the first guy a coward, or a jerk, or whatever, but it is because you can't even imagine being in that situation and, therefore, you don't think it exists. There are others out there who have suffered extreme abuse as children and have to live with severe psychological damage for the rest of their lives (I know one person like this and for him death often seems like it would be a release). Compared to these issues, a divorce is nothing, the natural death of a loved one is nothing, especially since these people often endure those things AS WELL AS their main source of suffering.

In my view, the true narcissism exists in those who see a suicide and say "Ha - I'm better than that guy because I never killed myself even after I stubbed my toe on the day my wife left me."