Exploring Mental Health Through Personal Stories and Podcasts

Breaking the Silence

My Mission

My mission is to help others to break the silence of past trauma and connect with others who are on a journey of freedom

Welcome to L. J. Robson's website, a safe place dedicated to sharing insights on mental health, personal growth, and resilience after trauma, divorce, and neglect.

Below, the handful of old family photos seem like typical happy childhood memories right? Yes, that is true - my brothers and I did enjoy some happy times especially with our father, our grandmother and the times when our mother was doing well. And yet what the photos don't share is the truth: that day to day family life affected us badly. Our human nature tends to hide and bury trauma of bad memories and cling to the good times. However, longterm I found that to be damaging; as it kept the trauma locked up inside and limited my ability to cope. I know there are many others who have gone through issues, I know I am not unique. But many who are suffering stay silent and they remain stuck. Because the silence adversely affects our potential to recover and heal. With help I built the courage to talk to someone and my misson now is to help others break the silence in their lives; to talk about their situation and issues, and be able to share with someone who can understand and can listen. In that process, we can share our insights and signpost people to help.

If this sounds encouraging and you are ready to break the silence, get in touch with Lee via email and start your journey to healing. We also have a free guide with helpful advice.

The Good Times

Get Our Free and Helpful Guide

About Lee and His Journey to Healing

'Likely Story' Review

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Some memoirs feel like quiet confessions, whispered to the reader. The Boy with the Thorn in His Side is not one of those books. Instead, it’s raw, unflinching, and at times gut-punchingly vivid. Robson does not dress up the past or soften the edges—he walks you straight back into his childhood home, sits you down in the living room, and makes you face the darkness right along with him.

What struck me most was the honesty. There’s no attempt to make himself the “perfect survivor” or to tie everything up neatly with a bow. The narrative moves between moments of fragile hope and crushing despair, often with dreamlike sequences that blur memory and trauma. At times it’s unsettling, but that’s what makes it powerful.

Robson’s gift is in the way he captures both the innocence of childhood and the corrosive impact of abuse, poverty, and instability. You feel his joy at football matches and music just as strongly as his dread when violence creeps into the home. It reminded me that memoir doesn’t have to be polished—it has to be true. And this one is brutally, achingly true.

This isn’t a light read. There are nights, addictions, betrayals, and moments of unbearable tension. But there’s also resilience, the bonds of brothers trying to survive together, and the long, slow path of healing. By the end, you feel not only the weight of Robson’s scars but also the strength it takes to write them down.

For readers who appreciate memoirs that don’t hide from the hard stuff—this belongs on your list.

'For most of my life, I felt like something was wrong – like I was living with a shadow I couldn’t see, a weight I couldn’t name. My childhood was marked by fear, confusion, and memories that never quite fit together. I knew there were pieces missing, but I never expected the truth to be more terrifying than my worst nightmares.

This is my story. A journey through trauma, survival, and the battle to reclaim my own mind. It’s about the ghosts of the past that never stopped whispering, the questions no one wanted to answer, and the slow unravelling of a reality I had been forced to forget.'

Told with raw honesty, The Boy with the Thorn in His Side is not just an account of what happened to me – it’s a testament to resilience, a fight for acceptance, and a message to anyone who has ever felt trapped by their own past.

Buy Lee's Book

From Lee's Memoir

I'm L. J. Robson. Husband, father, operational manager and now author. But for almost 30 years I've been living with the demons of a life much different from today. I was brought up on a council estate in Newcastle in extreme poverty, with my 2 younger brothers and mam who suffered from alcoholism and abuse from her partner. Life was grim...I was ashamed, so I buried my memories deep inside, not even telling my wife. Until carrying those demons got too much for my mental health.

Now it's time to break the silence … and help others to do the same.

★★★★★

'Kat' - Captivating read

Verified Purchase

It’s not often a book captivates me, bit this one certainly did. Depicting life in a troubled north east family and the effects this can have in the years to come. Overcoming the trauma and looking to the future. I would love to see this book made into a film. I can’t recommend this book enough.

'Phil' - An absorbing insight into a traumatic childhood

Verified Purchase

A beautifully written book allowing the reader access to the trauma of growing up in a chaotic environment, surrounded by alcoholism, poverty and bullying, showing the affect it has on a person and the great effort it takes to break that chain and become something much better, a loving husband, father, hard worker.
It really has everything, and is written in such a way that it’s very difficult to put down, I read it in two days.
It feels wrong saying it’s a great read, as the subject matter is not something you can enjoy, but it is a great read, the descriptions, you really can smell and taste the environments the author describes.
Do yourself a favour and give it a go, you won’t regret it.

Get Our Free and Helpful Guide

★★★★★