I think it's worth getting professional opinion. My son had said some similar things. He has some sub-clinical anxiety, perfectionism, and ADHD which makes him impulsive and reduces his emotional control. For mine, ADHD is the root problem and treating it relieves the rest. However, I was unable to sort out was was going on. I couldn't tell if he was struggling with anxiety, depression, or ADHD - or a combination. I took my son to a psychologist who was able to sort it out in one session. I was amazed. The hassle and cost were well worth it. I slept easier knowing my son didn't have depression and he was blurting out statements trying to express the intensity of his emotion without, say, a suicidal intent. However, the statistics of depression and suicide in children is really alarming so I hesitate to comment because *what if* your child is one of the rare ones who is struggling deeply with suicidal intent.
I would suggest that while being reactive to suicidal and parasuicidal comments can encourage a child to continue to use them, labeling it as attention seeking can be a way that parents can slip into neglectful behaviors. The suicidal intent may not be real, but the child's emotional pain is real (even if brief).
A better way to frame it is that the intensity of emotion is greater than the child's current coping skills. Also a better way is to frame it as "difficulty", used as in livesinthebalance.org and corresponding book "The Explosive Child".
If he's unable to stop himself from a pattern of behavior, then that would be roughly categorized as "meltdown" versus a "tantrum" which a child stops the behavior when s/he has gotten what s/he wants. Meltdowns are not attention seeking, although we can accidentally train people to become attention seeking. Does that make sense?
