For a while now my husband's default mode has been to lie down flat when anxious and confused.
Until recently this has mainly been confined to when I've tried to get him in or out of the car.
However, a couple of weeks ago we had an incident when my husband was stressed and pulling himself deliberately down to the floor. Fortunately, my brother was here and between the two of us we made sure that the drop to the floor was managed so that he did not hurt himself. Having got him down there we could not get him back up as he yelled each time we touched him and we didn't know if he was really in pain or not. I ended up making him comfortable with a pillow and duvet until help arrived to get him up safely.
Two days later he 'fell' sideways off the toilet, getting a nasty carpet burn to the head but otherwise ok. At the time I considered it a fall, but subsequent events have made me wonder if he deliberately pushed himself off the toilet, as he has been very confused lately about what it is.
Yesterday he also became distressed about using the toilet or the commode. I was with him and I am 100% sure that he tried several times to deliberately throw himself to the floor. I prevented it happening by positioning myself in front of him on a chair with pillows on my lap to make sure he could not just push himself to the ground with force and get hurt.
He was still determined to get to the floor but when it happened I had my daughter with me and we guided him to the floor gently, then made sure he was comfortable with pillows and a duvet.
He felt happier (safer) on the floor and I was also happy that he couldn't fall further. After about 10mins he was ready to stand up again and remained happy the rest of the day.
Obviously, what is happening with my husband is taking place during episodes of distress, which does not seem to be the situation you describe. However, the thinking behind it is probably the same - that the floor is safe, solid and stable, and therefore a natural place to retreat to.
I don't really have any advice on how to handle it, other than to just make sure that the descent to the floor is as safe as possible, and to make sure he is warm and comfortable until he is ready to stand up / be helped up again.
