DH suddenly seeing things on the floor, chair, counter that are just part of the pattern in each

mulfja

In the last week or so, DH has been trying to pick up things that are only the pattern in either the floor, bedspread, or countertop. Even in the car floormat. Is this like seeing things that are not there? Is it a concern?

Vitruvius

My DW began to do this in late Stage 6. She would try to pick up the flowers printed on a tablecloth or items in photos or book illustrations. She would also try to grasp things in the air that were actually well out of her reach, in some cases very far away. 

The lack of proper spatial and depth perception seems to be somewhat common in dementia patients, but not universal from my very limited encounters with others at my DW’s MCF. Many of the dementia patients there frequently saw dark floor mats at the doors as holes in the floor and did not want to step on them.

towhee

Changes in vision and the ability to process visual information do happen in dementia. As well as the changes the previous poster mentioned you can also have peripheral vision loss (tunnel vision). These changes often lead to a greater fall risk.

mulfja

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/284785#Comment_284785

Thank you. I think that is what is happening here. I also think my DH is in late stage 6, but to complicate things, he has also had a laser procedure in both eyes for glaucoma in the last few weeks. I wondered if it could have to do with that because he has become more sensitive to light. We see the eye doc next week.

​fesk

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/284804#Comment_284804

I wonder if he's actually seeing detail he couldn't before. I don't think he's seeing things that aren't there. He may be seeing the detail he couldn't before but, due to the disease, thinks he can pick it up. My mother would do this.

Carl46

I think PWDs sometimes have difficulty interpreting the images their eyes bring to them. My wife and I visited a grocery store with such highly polished concrete floor that the overhead lights and roof supports were reflected in it, and it looked like a chasm. She walked very gingerly where I led her, only because she trusted me more than her eyes. We left and never returned.