Graham Platner opens up about his military service, PTSD and therapy: ‘It’s a long journey’

[0:00] You talked about some of the problems that went along with service in the military for you and [0:06] other men and women who have so proudly served this country. With all of the controversies, [0:13] with the scandals, so-called scandals, it depends on a voter's point of view on whether [0:19] the controversies or scandals, a lot of it, you have said, had to do with PTSD when you came back [0:27] from service. And my God, I know families for generations have seen loved ones experience [0:36] this, even when they didn't call it PTSD. The lawyer in me, though, wants to try to figure out [0:43] what's the timeline? Well, I was going to say without getting too personal, but I guess you [0:48] kind of need to get very personal if you want to represent the people of Maine in the United States [0:53] Senate. Give us a timeline for your struggles with PTSD and how you believe it impacted you [1:03] personally and explains many of the character failings that you yourself have talked about [1:10] as you've tried working through these. What's the time frame for that PTSD? And where are you now? [1:17] Are you still experiencing, again, I speak in ignorance because I didn't fight in Iraq and [1:23] Afghanistan or any war. So forgive me if this last part is ignorant. Do you ever get past PTSD [1:29] or does it stay with you? Well, I'll just say, I mean, look, much like any kind of treatment or [1:38] therapy, much like getting over any kind of trauma, there isn't like one day where you're not doing well [1:43] and then one day you're magically good again. It's a journey. It's a long journey. It requires, [1:50] at least in my case, it required a lot of love and support for my community and my family. [1:57] It required a lot of support from the VA, which I'm very lucky that I got. I got home from my fourth [2:03] deployment in 2011 and I got out of the Army in 2012. 2012 to 2016 was pretty dark for me. [2:11] I was in Washington, D.C. I was going to college, but I was not. I felt very isolated, very alone. [2:19] At that point, I was receiving no treatment whatsoever. I came out of the infantry in a time [2:24] where we just didn't really talk about the fact that we were all suffering. It was this whole idea [2:29] that we're just going to be tough and get through it. And it was not an effective solution. [2:36] In 2016, I moved back to Maine. When I came back here, one, I got involved in the VA system, [2:43] which then gave me access to a lot more treatment that I had access to in D.C. and things began to [2:49] improve. But it's a journey. I mean, I left D.C. in a pretty dark place and it took me a number of [2:56] years back here in Maine to really kind of find myself. I will say the single best thing that [3:01] happened to me is in 2017, I was exposed to oyster farming. And in 2018, I started to do that full [3:10] time. And from 2018 to last summer, that's what I did. And sitting on the boat out in Frenchman [3:18] May, looking across at Acadia National Park, talking to the seals and the eagles and relaxing [3:23] with the bivalves, that honestly did did almost more for me than anything else. But it is a it's [3:32] just it's continuous. And I wake up every single morning just trying to be a little bit better and [3:38] a little bit kinder than the way I was before. And eventually you just get to a point where you [3:43] begin to feel much more fulfilled and much happier. And yeah, for me, around 2021 was when I really [3:52] started to feel like I was myself again. And but, you know, I still go to therapy, still talk to my [3:58] doc. My wife, Amy and I, we still we still share and communicate like our kind of true selves to each [4:07] other, which is, of course, as you guys probably know, always a bit of a struggle. But but it's one [4:12] that is incredibly, incredibly fulfilling and well worth it. And it's made me a very, very happy [4:21] and very fulfilled person. Well, first of all, the sights and sounds that you described from [4:30] Frenchman's Bay to Acadia National Park, I know very well. And I could see how that would actually [4:35] bring a lot of clarity that it's a beautiful, incredible way of life in Maine, the way life [4:42] should be. And I also think that a lot of families who have struggled with their tours of duty in the [4:49] years after can really appreciate what you're sharing and also showing that therapy is not a [4:56] weakness. Therapy is building strength. And I can appreciate all of that.