No. Not really. I refuse to minimize the effect that kind of behavior has on the receiving end. Minimizing it, excusing it, calling it anything more politically correct doesn't change the horrendous terror that kind of behavior leaves the other person on the other end. When a person directly tells you, "If you don't do X, I will kill myself," it leaves you paralyzed with fear that your every move will be the cause of death for a loved one. My other reaction was "How dare you make me responsible for your life or death!" That kind of manipulation causes a person to feel trapped, suffocated, and riddled with anxiety for responsibility for another person's life or death. No. There is no kinder way to put that.

I am not saying everyone who is suicidal is doing it in that fashion, but some do, and when they do, that IS manipulative in the very worst way possible.