(CBS) --- Just days after the tragic death of fashion icon Kate Spade, which the medical examiner confirmed Thursday was a suicide, new government research sheds light on a disturbing increase in suicides in the United States. The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that suicide rates have risen dramatically across most of the country in the past three decades.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. and is one of just three leading causes that are on the rise.
Suicide prevention: Here's how to get help You are not alone. | Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
"Unfortunately, our data show that the problem is getting worse," CDC Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat, M.D., said in a press briefing on Thursday.
According to the study, the rate of suicide in the U.S. rose nearly 30 percent between 1999 and 2016.
In 2016, nearly 45,000 Americans age 10 or older died by suicide.
Contributing factors to suicide
While prevention efforts mainly focus on identifying and providing treatment for people with mental illness, experts say suicide is rarely caused by a single factor.
In fact, researchers found that more than half of people who died by suicide during the study period did not have a known diagnosed mental health condition at the time of death.