Surviving trauma: Filipe Faria’s journey to PTSD recovery

Filipe Faria, a humanitarian pilot, shares the traumatic event that led to his post-traumatic stress disorder: “being taken hostage by child soldiers.” We chat over Chinese food about his work flying humanitarian workers and goods around countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Filipe just got recertified for his pilot’s license, 24 years after the event that changed his life.

Filipe spent over a year in the Congo during the nation’s second civil war. Hours before his life changed forever, he co-piloted a plane loaded with exam papers for Save the Children.

After his plane landed on a dirt airstrip in Lusambo, three pickup trucks with heavily armed child soldiers surrounded the aid workers, demanding transportation to Rwanda. The other pilot tried to radio the base, escalating tensions. Guns were pointed at Filipe’s chest, and he pleaded for his life. The abduction lasted six hours, but the emotional aftermath persisted for decades.

“I didn’t seek therapy initially,” Filipe admits. “I bottled up the trauma, maintaining a facade of bravado for 17 years.”

In 2000, society and the medical community had significant gaps in understanding mental health, and resources were limited for people living with trauma. Despite having medical insurance that covers therapy, pilots who seek it often lose their medical clearance (and thus their livelihood for a period), which has only changed very recently.

Filipe began his own university-based research focusing on PTSD among humanitarian workers. He could find no published literature on the topic, although awareness was growing.

“Back then, it was assumed PTSD only affected military personnel,” Filipe explains. “Even in 2010, my doctors told me I didn’t have PTSD because I wasn’t a soldier who went to war.”

Feeling dismissed by his doctors, Filipe persevered in his studies, determined to shed light on the mental health struggles of those in humanitarian work.

“Compared to military personnel, we’re in the same war zones, often longer,” Filipe says.

He notes that there are now treatments like trauma-release exercises, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing and psychedelic-assisted therapies. Back then, the more traditional cognitive behavioral therapy was the norm. Filipe’s extensive therapy, costing about $10,000 a year, helped him achieve functional recovery in society but didn’t completely eliminate his symptoms.

As the years passed, Filipe’s warm, exuberant and socially engaging nature diminished. His professional life paused, and he withdrew from social activities.

“My normal extroversion was gone,” Filipe shares. “I pulled away from friends and family, and my relationships fractured.”

It took 17 years for the full brunt of the events to hit him. A completely unrelated family incident pushed Filipe’s mental health to the brink. By then, medical awareness outside military medicine and the body of evidence had started to catch up, and he received a diagnosis of delayed-onset PTSD.

The diagnosis brought relief and marked the beginning of his long path to recovery, which also meant sacrificing his pilot license for six years — and his only means of income to pursue this path.

Filipe devoured literature, finding solace in Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s book, “The Body Keeps the Score.” Van der Kolk explains that you can try to suppress memories and trauma, but they stay with you, trapped in your mind and body. Thanks to employer-provided health insurance, Filipe had more specialist support than most. Therapy is expensive, and he recognizes that many lack access to the necessary care.

Filipe believes humanitarian agencies should provide mental health training before sending people into conflict zones. His recovery is a testament to his determination and self-advocacy, even when his doctor was dismissive.

Peace, to Filipe, means “being kind to others.”

“Everyone is struggling with something,” he said. “Before speaking ill of someone, remember they might be dealing with something you don’t know about. As a professor once told me, most of the time people are unkind because they are dealing with something and you are just not aware of it, and maybe they are not either.”

Chris Houston is president of the Canadian Peace Museum nonprofit organization and a columnist for The Bancroft Times.

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