You probably live in a democracy with functional rule of law. You will never understand the perspective of growing up in a conservative culture that never have any mental health acceptance, and the only knowledge they have is that you're "faking depression" or on the other extreme end, you're "absolutely insane" and should be caged up like a rabid dog, no inbetween, no empathy. A system that will eat you alive. They kick out students with autism even after they already got accepted to the university. There's a kid that has a slight intellectual disability, and people just gossip about it on Wechat, like zero respects at all, using insults to describe him, their family get shamed for having "useless son", kid just get locked inside his house, never get to explore the outside because people perceive him as a danger.

You can't apply your "rule of thumb" everywhere.

It's like the opposite of "Don't talk to the cops"

That applies in places where you have a right to silence, but try that in China, they just jail you. You're supposed to talk your way out of it (and lie your way out of it if necessary, make sure your lies are convincing enough).