About Fog of Mind
Who Fog of Mind is for
Fog of Mind is a mental health project built around conversation, reflection, and perspective, with practical tools that fit real working life. It's primary focus is for men over the age of 40, but that doesn't mean that the tools and techniques are not relevant for everyone.
I deal with the uncomfortable conversations so that you don't have to!
I primarily work with three sectors where people carry a lot, stay professional, and often keep going long after the warning lights are flashing:
- UK construction
- UK education (including higher education)
- The National Health Service
This is not therapy. It is grounded support, lived experience, and practical habits that help people create headspace before things hit crisis level.
Why these three industries?
UK Education
Education staff wellbeing is under sustained pressure. The 2025 Education Support report notes wellbeing at its lowest since 2019, with 78% of education staff stressed (84% of senior leaders), 36% reporting symptoms consistent with clinical depression, and 47% saying they always go to work when unwell (61% for senior leaders).
When the people holding the line are running on fumes, everything gets harder: attendance, behaviour, performance, retention, leadership decisions.
The NHS
NHS staff are dealing with relentless demand in high-pressure, understaffed environments. Over 75% reported experiencing a mental health condition in the past year, with 52% experiencing anxiety and 51% low mood. Studies cited in the same set of figures indicate PTSD rates of 24–36% among NHS staff, and mental health issues account for over 20% of sickness absences.
This is not just “stress”. It affects decision-making, compassion fatigue, team stability, patient experience, and whether people can stay in the job.
UK Construction
Construction faces a severe mental health challenge, including very high suicide risk. The figures you compiled highlight that two workers take their own lives every working day, suicide rates are cited as 3.7 times higher than the national average, and 92% of workers do not feel comfortable discussing mental health at work.
Add tight deadlines, financial pressure, long hours, isolation, and a macho culture that discourages honesty, and you get teams that look fine on the surface but are struggling underneath.
What Fog of Mind does
I help people with their mental health so that they can get on with their lives.
That typically looks like:
- Talks that normalise the conversation
Lived experience, plain English, no performance. A clear message: it is OK to ask for help early. - Workshops that give people tools, not just awareness
Simple techniques to reduce “fog” under pressure, reset quickly, and start better conversations in teams. - Manager support that is realistic
How to spot early signs, how to respond with empathy (not clichés), how to keep boundaries, and how to signpost support confidently.
This matters because mental health issues already carry a heavy cost for UK businesses, estimated at £56 billion annually. There is also a cited return: organisations reporting around £5 back for every £1 spent on wellbeing support.
My values (how I work)
Fog of Mind stays consistent because it is built on a few core values:
- Clarity: turning vague wellbeing language into simple actions people can try today
- Practical support: tools that work on an ordinary Tuesday
- Credibility and groundedness: honest, experience-led, no hype
- Compassion without pity: respectful, warm, and direct
- Courage to talk early: conversations before things unravel
- Boundaries and responsibility: support and signposting, not therapy
- Human connection: headspace is often created through connection, not isolation
- Sustainable pace: consistency over intensity, for teams and for leaders
Who I am
I’m a British Army veteran, motivational speaker and a workplace mental health advocate. I’ve led teams, worked in high-pressure environments, and I know what it looks like when people keep pushing because they believe they have to.
In 2013 was diagnosed with moderate to severe depression general anxiety disorder. I recently discovered there is a bit more going on. A more complex problem, driven by layers of trauma. I am confortable talking about my sitution. I have learned that it's ok to be vulnerable, and it's ok to ask for help.
I’ve spoken publicly about my experience and supported colleagues through their own difficult seasons. That lived experience shapes everything I do, practical, calm, and focused on what helps.
John's Mental Health Metaphor
I started life getting kicked around the back garden, bouncing between fence posts and flowerbeds, always coming back for one more go. Soon the game got bigger and rougher, being booted from town to town, from pitch to pavement, sometimes sailing clean, sometimes disappearing into a thorny bush where you had to crawl in and drag it out.
Over time, the leather took its share of knocks. A few panels scuffed. A bit of stitching came loose. Nothing dramatic, just the slow evidence of use. The ball was still playable. It still rolled, still held its shape, still turned up when it mattered.
Then, eventually, it punctured.
Not with a bang, but with a quiet surrender. Less spring. Less lift. A softening that made every kick feel heavier than it should. The same ball, the same life, but suddenly missing the one thing it had always relied on, the air that kept it firm, ready, and in motion.
What you can expect from Fog of Mind
- A friendly and reasuring approach
- No jargon and no forced positivity
- Practical frameworks and small habits that compound
- A safe, non-judgemental tone that still holds standards
- Clear signposting to professional help when appropriate
- Techniques and tips that have been tested over a period of 13 years
- No judgement
- 100 percent integrity and confidentiality
If you want to build a culture where people can speak sooner, support each other better, and keep performing without breaking, Fog of Mind is here to help.
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Contact me
07999 239932