Diane: "Your honor, my client, Todd Manning, suffers from severe P.T.S.D."
And with those words on January 18th, 2013, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is brought back front and center to the story of Todd Manning, where it should have been all along. During Todd's first month in Port Charles last year, Todd mentions it to three different women, who all share one thing in common. Unlike Blair Cramer, all of these women bring out the worst in Todd Manning.
Todd - Tea Scene 5/10/12
Tea: How dare you talk about my husband that way. You murdered Victor in cold blood.
Todd: No. I didn't. You were at the trial. You heard the expert witness.
Todd: I was not responsible for my actions.
Tea: Oh, when are you ever responsible for your actions? Parade as many experts as you want in front of me. You knew exactly what you were doing when you broke into my home, pointed a gun at my husband, and shot him dead.
Todd: Post-traumatic stress disorder does not just happen to soldiers in war. Sometimes it happens to people whose mothers kidnap them, and torture them, and hold them captive for eight, long years.
Todd - Carly Scene 5/11/12
Carly: Because you killed him.
Todd: I did, but I was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time, and I don't really even remember shooting the guy.
Todd: I've hurt everyone who's ever said that they cared about me. Especially Blair, but hey, you know, I was a certifiable lunatic. I have an expert witness to prove it.
Todd- Heather Scene 6/4/12
Todd: What am I going to tell Tea?
Heather: Tell her the truth, that you did everything you could. and so did I.
Todd: I promised her that I would save this kid. I promised her that I would save him.
Heather: You tried, It's not your fault. You didn't kill this baby.
Todd: I killed his father. Took Tea's husband away from her. Can I tell her I took away her son, too?
Heather: You killed this baby's father?
Todd: Shot him, point blank.
Heather: Just curious, why aren't you in prison?
Todd: Because I convinced the courts that I was **non compos mentis** because I
didn't remember doing it. And you think I would have. He was my twin.
Heather: There must have been some bad blood between you.
Todd: Oh, I wanted him dead, if that's what you're asking. And then when I did remember, I tried to cover it up.
So Todd speaks freely to three different women about P.T.S.D. Does he really believe he has it? Does he have it? Todd never mentions getting any treatment for it. Outwardly when he first shows up in Port Charles he seems well, confident even. Todd is a free man. There are no more converstations with his dead mother, all his secrets are out in the open. Todd fearlessly blackmails Sonny, Port Charles resident mobster, then gets Starr clear of all of the criminal charges, without the help of her so called amazing lawyer. So what has happen to Todd's P.T.S.D., and what would cause it to resurface?
Stay tuned.
**non compos mentis** is Latin for "not of sound mind". It is also so legal definition that refers to someone insane.
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