if you like a post where a person is talking about killing themselves that means that you like that that person wants to kill themselves, there is no other interpretation for the wording x has liked your post that i can infer in good faith and this is why i tell people not to like my negative posts unless they like that i'm in misery because if you want to convey anything else you have 26 letters and punctuation at your disposal
@mavica_again@computerfairi.es Over here on the Misskey/fork side of things, we have "reactions" which very unfortunately federate to Mastodon as a Favorite/Like (⭐) and nothing else (while Misskey/fork's "favorites" are a personal, non-public bookmark).
I have, and I have seen others, react to negative posts with consolatory emotes, (hugs, pats, hearts, etc) and especially with darker contexts, it's a real shame that the intention of the interaction is lost or inverted simply because of platform differences.
It reminds me of an article that I had read a few weeks ago (and cannot find the origin at the moment) where the author had made a habit of storing the death date of their deceased acquaintances in their Google Contacts, and Google would send them congratulatory reminders of these dates as if it was something to be happy about, as if it were a birthday, emphasizing how technology can be completely tone-deaf in this day and age.
@mavica_again@computerfairi.es For your given example, I'd agree with you, a thoughtful response is entirely more appropriate than a like or reaction which carries a heavy implication of "I gave this 0.5 seconds of my time, next please".
But, unfortunately, that is a matter of opinion, and with some exceptions, we share this common space with people who may think that is appropriate, and may be socially awkward or inexperienced to the point that they don't understand the implications of how such an interaction is received. Informing them is a wonderful start, but the loss in translation is nonetheless saddening because you couldn't even give such people the benefit of the doubt if they had missed it.