Could someone explain this to me please?

[HvnBound]

In 2005 or 2006 DH bought me a puppy stuffed animal, he chose the name puppy, I will call it P from now on. DH would hold P and would make P kiss me and lick my cheeks. He would also make P ask me for a kiss and I would comply since it made me feel a bit like a kid, that was a welcome relief at times.

 

We went overseas in May 2006 and DH insisted that we take P on the trip with us, for a good luck charm he said, I thought it was odd but I agreed.

 

DH was a barber, police officer, chief of police, then a position unknown to me, college student, computer operator, data clerk, temp employee, disabled, in that order. He went thru horrible things while in the position unknown to me which caused his undiagnosed PTSD, this happened in the sixties and I met him in a different state in the nineties. He had to go thru multiple surgeries. He had an amazing memory until January 31, 2012. My memory has always sucked.

 

DH died in May 2012 at the age of 67.

 

In 2008 a vendor brought everyone in the office a stuffed animal that looked like a bird so I brought it home, DH immediately called it Tweety (T) and said P now had a little brother. When I was at work DH took a pic of P & T and the pic was developed and he put it in a collage in our home. Whenever DH would mow the grass when he was about to finish, he would get P & T and would put them in the fanny pack that hung on the steering wheel of the riding mower and would ride the two around. I wondered why. At this time DH was falling asleep when sitting outside in the sunlight.

 

My MIL was diagnosed with dementia when she was 82 after a scan and I have wondered why DH acted this way with these two stuffed animals. Do you think it was dementia? PTSD? Heart failure? What?

 

 

[widowat33]

Hmm..hard to say.

Sounds like dementia, it can cause unusual behaviours and loss of memory.

PTSD is typically behaviour that resembles depression, or flashbacks and anxiety.

There's a lot of info on the internet on both... I love researching things like that, but every person is so different and may present signs and symptoms differently.

Dementia seems to be a more common thing now, I think it used to be confused with Alzheimer's, or misdiagnosed as such.

My grandma in law used to tell stories about things that happened to other people but refer to it as happening to her, get cranky (which is understandable given the fact her memory was failing), put items in the pantry that needed to be refrigerated, and accuse family members of stealing her stuff (rings, cars, etc...). She was diagnosed as having dementia. As I said though I'm sure it varies amongst people as to what the signs are!

 

[Baylee627]

The child - like behavior does cause me to question dementia,, but there's a myriad of issues (differing organ failures, strokes or mini-strokes or other insidious neuro -degenerative disorders) that can impact neuro-cognitive capabilities and/or cause encephalopathy.

 

It's hard to delineate without CT/MRI corroborated evidence along with a symptom constellation.

 

But something was most definitely amiss neurologically. I'm sorry; I know it's painful to wonder, and not have any definitive answers.

 

Baylee

[Max2507]

Having unanswered questions is can be so frustrating. Maybe he was doing it to be funny and kept waiting for you to ask about it.

[Guest Kamcho]

I had an acquaintance in her late 20s/early 30s who did this. Traveller with her "plushies" took pix of them. Called them her kids. Kind of stuffed travelling gnomes I guess.

 

As far as I know she was just playing and having fun. It was maybe a little odd but lord knows I ain't no poster child for "normal" my own self.