Suicide rates in Pennsylvania have spiked by one-third since 1999, according to the latest report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More people die by their own hand than those who die in motor vehicle accidents every year, close to 45,000 in 2016 alone. Of that number, nearly half died from gunshot wounds.

This troubling news comes on the heels of two high-profile celebrity suicides — handbag designer Kate Spade, 55, and chef-author Anthony Bourdain, 61.

It seems incomprehensible to us mere mortals when wealthy, high-energy celebrities, such as Spade and Bourdain, presumably at the top of their games, decide to commit this act of finality.

Just as we had done when comedian-actor Robin Williams, 63, committed suicide in 2014, we ask ourselves what could have prompted such self-destructive behavior.

But there are answers in all three cases. In Williams’ case, the autopsy of his brain showed diffuse Lewy body dementia, a condition that mimics the onset of extreme Parkinson’s disease.

According to her sister, Spade had struggled with depression for several years and had shied away from hospitalization for fear that word would get out, and people would discover that her public face was a charade.

Family members, friends, even Bourdain himself spoke about the demons he had been fighting off and on during his adult life.

The CDC acknowledges that high-profile suicides such as these result in copycat actions; after Williams’ death, there was a 10 percent increase in suicides.

We are even tempted to ask ourselves whether Bourdain read or heard about Spade’s suicide and was persuaded to follow suit. The two suicides happened within a week of each other. Both occurred by hanging, just as Williams’ did.

According to the CDC, nationwide suicides have increased nearly 30 percent within the 17-year study period; the percentage of suicides increased in every state except Nevada, and in 25 states the rate was up by more than 30 percent.

We often deal with stereotypes when it comes to suicides. We conjure up the image of some tortured soul hellbent on ending it all, when, in fact, the CDC says that 54 percent who took their lives did not have a previously known mental health issue.

“Instead, they were suffering from other issues, such as relationship problems, substance abuse and misuse, physical health problems, job or financial problems, and recent crises or things that were coming up in their lives that they were anticipating,” according to Deborah Stone, a behavioral scientist at the CDC and the lead author of the new study.

Some of the study’s other key findings were:

• Two-thirds of those with known mental health issues who died by suicide had a history of treatment for those issues or for substance abuse, and half of them were in treatment when they died.

• Women committed suicide at a rate of 2½ times more than men.

• Of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States, suicide is 10th but one of just three leading causes that is increasing. Among adolescents, it is the third largest killer.

The CDC study recommends that prevention strategies should include more financial support, provide more coping and problem-solving skills and better support at-risk individuals.

The CDC also laid out a dozen warning signs to identify those who might be at risk, including: feeling like a burden, being isolated, feeling trapped or in unbearable pain, increased substance abuse, looking for a way to access lethal means, increased anger or rage, extreme mood swings, expressing hopelessness, sleeping too little or too much, talking or posting about wanting to die and making plans for suicide.

Anyone harboring thoughts of suicide, or if you know someone who is, can get help by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com