A new Japanese study has found suicide rates among middle-aged male office workers often peak on Monday mornings.

The study, conducted by researchers from Waseda University in Tokyo and Osaka University, claims to be the first of its kind to explore suicide rates based on timings in Japan.

The country has long struggled with one of the world’s highest suicide rates and a notorious culture of overworking.

The research, which explored 870,000 suicides between 1974 and 2014, found that the day and time that people chose to take their lives fluctuated depending on gender, age and the economic climate.

The study revealed that the number of men aged between 40 and 65 who committed suicide at the start…