WAPo cites Wash Times as wrong, but the Wapo themselves published the previous posted opinion piece citing suicide as an "epidemic"
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These reports are misleading in several ways. Suicide is neither a disease nor contagious, so it doesn't fit the literal definition of an epidemic. But the metaphorical use of "epidemic" doesn't match, either: Suicide is not actually gaining sudden prevalence. The high rates of suicide reflected in the CDC's report are not new. Yes, the rate in the United States has increased over the past 15 years or so, but it decreased over the 15 years before that. Today, 13 of every 100,000 people in the United States kill themselves; in 1914, 16 per 100,000 did..."