Upstream Stories
Upstream Stories from PEI
These are real stories from Islanders about how the conditions of their lives — housing, income, care, community, climate — shaped their mental health. They were shared on cards at workshops and events across PEI. Every story is anonymous and published with permission. Each one is a policy story.
Housing
“We moved four times in three years because we kept getting priced out. Every move meant a new school for my kids, new routines, new stress. I didn’t connect it to my mental health at the time but looking back, the instability was exhausting in a way that never really left us.”
Housing
“I spent two winters in a place with mold and no proper heat because I couldn’t find anything else I could afford. I was anxious all the time. I didn’t realize until later that my body was just responding to an environment that wasn’t safe.”
Climate
“I grew up farming. My father farmed. My grandfather farmed. The unpredictability now — the floods, the dry spells, the storms — has changed something in me. There’s an anxiety about the future that I never had before and I don’t know what to do with it.”
Climate
“After Fiona I just couldn’t get back to feeling settled. Even when the repairs were done something in me stayed on alert. I think a lot of Islanders feel that way and we don’t really talk about it.”
Child Care
“I went back to work after my second child because we needed the income. But after paying for childcare there was almost nothing left. The stress of that math, every single month, wore me down in ways I am still dealing with.”
Child Care
“When my daycare spot fell through I had to quit my job. I lost my income, my routine, my colleagues. People don’t realize how much your mental health is tied to being able to work and contribute.”
Transportation
“I live in a rural community and I don’t drive. Getting to appointments, getting groceries, getting anywhere — it takes so much planning and so many favours. The dependence on others is its own kind of stress that builds up over time.”
Transportation
“Missing a medical appointment because there was no way to get there is not just inconvenient. It sends a message that your health does not matter as much as someone else’s. That message adds up.”
Community
“After I moved to PEI I spent the first two years feeling invisible. I had skills and experience and things to offer but no way in. Loneliness is not just sad — it is genuinely bad for your health and I felt that in my body.”
Community
“The community centre in our town closed and people don’t realize what that meant. It was where seniors got out of the house, where kids had somewhere to go, where people ran into each other. When it closed something quietly fell apart.”
Accessibility to Health Care
“I waited fourteen months to see a specialist. Fourteen months of not knowing, of googling symptoms at two in the morning, of trying to stay calm for my family while feeling terrified. The waiting itself was its own health crisis.”
Accessibility to Health Care
“I don’t have a family doctor. I haven’t had one for three years. Every time something comes up I have to decide if it is serious enough for the emergency room or if I should just wait and hope. That constant calculation is exhausting.”
Job Precarity
“I work seasonal. Six months on, six months uncertain. Every fall I file for EI and every spring I hope the work comes back. The financial stress bleeds into everything — sleep, relationships, how present I can be for my kids.”
Job Precarity
“I had three contracts in one year, each one ending before I could catch my breath. No benefits, no security, no ability to plan. I was grateful for the work but the instability was slowly wearing me down in ways I could not name until much later.”
Housing
“We moved four times in three years because we kept getting priced out. Every move meant a new school for my kids, new routines, new stress. I didn’t connect it to my mental health at the time but looking back, the instability was exhausting in a way that never really left us.”
Housing
“I spent two winters in a place with mold and no proper heat because I couldn’t find anything else I could afford. I was anxious all the time. I didn’t realize until later that my body was just responding to an environment that wasn’t safe.”
Climate
“I grew up farming. My father farmed. My grandfather farmed. The unpredictability now — the floods, the dry spells, the storms — has changed something in me. There’s an anxiety about the future that I never had before and I don’t know what to do with it.”
Climate
“After Fiona I just couldn’t get back to feeling settled. Even when the repairs were done something in me stayed on alert. I think a lot of Islanders feel that way and we don’t really talk about it.”
Child Care
“I went back to work after my second child because we needed the income. But after paying for childcare there was almost nothing left. The stress of that math, every single month, wore me down in ways I am still dealing with.”
Child Care
“When my daycare spot fell through I had to quit my job. I lost my income, my routine, my colleagues. People don’t realize how much your mental health is tied to being able to work and contribute.”
Transportation
“I live in a rural community and I don’t drive. Getting to appointments, getting groceries, getting anywhere — it takes so much planning and so many favours. The dependence on others is its own kind of stress that builds up over time.”
Transportation
“Missing a medical appointment because there was no way to get there is not just inconvenient. It sends a message that your health does not matter as much as someone else’s. That message adds up.”
Community
“After I moved to PEI I spent the first two years feeling invisible. I had skills and experience and things to offer but no way in. Loneliness is not just sad — it is genuinely bad for your health and I felt that in my body.”
Community
“The community centre in our town closed and people don’t realize what that meant. It was where seniors got out of the house, where kids had somewhere to go, where people ran into each other. When it closed something quietly fell apart.”
Accessibility to Health Care
“I waited fourteen months to see a specialist. Fourteen months of not knowing, of googling symptoms at two in the morning, of trying to stay calm for my family while feeling terrified. The waiting itself was its own health crisis.”
Accessibility to Health Care
“I don’t have a family doctor. I haven’t had one for three years. Every time something comes up I have to decide if it is serious enough for the emergency room or if I should just wait and hope. That constant calculation is exhausting.”
Job Precarity
“I work seasonal. Six months on, six months uncertain. Every fall I file for EI and every spring I hope the work comes back. The financial stress bleeds into everything — sleep, relationships, how present I can be for my kids.”
Job Precarity
“I had three contracts in one year, each one ending before I could catch my breath. No benefits, no security, no ability to plan. I was grateful for the work but the instability was slowly wearing me down in ways I could not name until much later.”