The person experiencing it has difficulty seeing one side of their surrounding environment, or will report that one side appears different from the other. Hemianopia may be complete or partial. In the case of complete, the person affected can only see to one side when looking straight ahead. With partial hemianopia, objects appear different in clarity or brightness. Sometimes, the visual image may completely disappear or distort.
Hemianopia can cause loss of confidence with doing simple daily tasks.
The person may feel unsafe crossing the road or going shopping, for example. Loss of half the visual field will affect many daily tasks including reading, travel and daily living skills. Some hemianopias resolve naturally over time. The majority are permanent. Despite this, there is a great deal which can be done to assist someone with hemianopia.