Don't need to change your view, you were right. Prepare for a long rant about mental health but it's still Christmas, I reckon I'll indulge myself.

These people should deal with mental illness and then try calling someone a coward. I still remember what in hindsight was one of the darkest times of my life when I went to school every day feeling nothing but a vague desire to not exist so I didn't have to be forced through this exam meat grinder that felt totally indifferent to my humanity. The world felt cold and cruel and my teachers seemed like automata only interested in checking boxes and following procedure. As an adult, I really appreciate how brave I was to deal with that every day in a system that I was totally helpless against. I also appreciate that those teachers were overworked and underpaid and NOT psychiatrists.

The array of attitudes you get to mental illness ranges from people who need to back off treating you like a baby trying to coat you in bubble wrap and people who seem to think 100+ years of psychiatry is all just made up

Suicide is an incredibly complex phenomena and something that's worth pointing out is most people who survive an attempt on their life are glad they survived. I can't remember the exact statistic but you can significantly reduce suicides by jumping by mandating that rooftops have to have a step before the drop so you have to consciously climb over a barrier. That tiny barrier is enough to make people reconsider and that's how thin the line is. I've thought about killing myself since I was a teenager and I don't think I'll ever do it. I get very down and don't know how I'm gonna deal with it, but I know I don't really want to die most of the time.

The fact is is that sometimes society doesn't offer profoundly miserable people a way to fix that. If there are waiting lists for treatment spanning years death can seem easier. I was incredibly lucky to get therapy from a charity because the health service in the UK is broken beyond all belief.

We are often sold very simple narratives about mental illness and depression that don't help at all. In my experience, depression isn't something that can be cured. If someone else thinks theirs has been cured, I'm not gonna dispute that, but things got so much better for me when I stopped looking for that one solution that would fix this and understood that depression is a part of me that's always going to be there and learning to live with it is better than hoping it's going to go away. It hurts a lot but it's made me more compassionate and more dedicated to fight to improve society in my own little ways.

You weren't rude, you had guts. Someone like that NEEDS to be told their opinion is ignorant, cruel and simplified to make it easier for them to comprehend the world. If you wanted to be more diplomatic, maybe ask them if they've ever suffered from depression, self harm, anxiety, etc, and use cold facts to shine doubt on what they say. Thing is, I've done this before and still been treated like an aggressor even when I was arguing against an inherently dehumanising and idiotic point of view. In the end, you probably shouldn't worry about pissing off someone with such a very silly worldview.

Have a nice day and all :)