EDITOR’S CHOICE Not waving but drowningy... in systematic

Suicide, the theme of this issue, remains one of the last taboos in many societies, particularly those with strong religious roots. In this issue, Spoerri et al.1 describe the associations between religion and suicide in Switzerland, echoing Durkheim’s study published over a century ago that showed suicide rates were higher among Protestants than Catholics and Jews.2 Spoerri et al. also found lower rates of suicide in people who affirmed a religious belief than those who did not. Durkheim attributed the effect to the social organization of specific religions rather than religion itself. His work on suicide covered a range of other factors—gender, civil status, education, geog-raphy and ambient temperature. For most of these associations, he was able to attribute a social explan