Journeys in Mental Health: ‘Meeting a torn Mum’

In the first ‘Journeys in Mental Health’ blog of 2026, PLOS Mental Health hears from Psychiatrist Dr Hena Jawaid, who has chosen to share her reflections of supporting someone who has been experiencing emotional distress as a result of their child’s substance use. Upon hearing the mother’s account, in which she described her soul as a “sifter/mesh with many holes”, Dr Jawaid was deeply moved and chose to share her reflections with us in the form of poetry.

‘Meeting a torn Mum‘

Dr Hena Jawaid, 2026

The first few seconds were spent; folding and unwinding,
the grip, the lapse, the move, the flow
the cloth that she was wearing was a shifting throw.

She came closer and whispered, “It’s my soul”
the horror, the growl, the fear, and the blow.
I felt within these seconds and much more,
can’t be said, expressed or shared as a lore.

“Who caused these scars and such a sore?
she lamented and mourned and raised her brow,
a young boy wrapped in a smoke, sitting on a floor
chasing the powder that his fingers throw.

Enigma, silence, serenity and pleasure,
the burst of ecstasy that leaves no shore,
imprinting his steps on (her) soul
making more holes…

PLOS Mental Health has chosen to share this poem because the depths of lived experience, and witnessing those experiences, cannot be captured by scholarly communication alone. PLOS Mental Health will continue to use its platform to bring the voices of lived experience into publishing. Our ‘Journeys in Mental Health’ series, which started in 2024, will continue this year, and is just one of many ways in which the journal will continue on this mission. We sincerely thank Dr Jawaid for sharing her beautiful words.

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