Sundowning in dementia can be distressing to witness and difficult to handle when you’re unfamiliar with the symptoms and coping strategies. To calm the situation, it’s essential to have the proper information and be prepared to recognise the early signs. In this Blossom Home Care guide, we share our advice on understanding, identifying and managing sundowning in dementia.
What Is Sundowning?
Sundowning is a common symptom of dementia, causing confusion and agitation in the late afternoon and evening. This change is not necessarily linked to the sun setting, but is thought to have several potential triggers that often coincide with the end of the day. Causes of sundowning in dementia include:
- Unmet needs like tiredness and hunger
- Overstimulation during the day
- Environmental changes
- Insufficient exposure to natural light
- Shift in hormone levels
- Medicinal side effects
How Long Does Sundowning Last?
The duration of sundowning episodes varies and could be as short as a few minutes or as long as a few hours. While symptoms often ease by bedtime, if they continue into the night, they can prevent people with dementia from getting enough sleep and cause greater tiredness the following day.
When Does Sundowning Start?
Everyone with a type of dementia has a different experience, including with sundowning. Some people may never have an episode, while others may display symptoms on a regular basis. Sundowning can happen at any stage of dementia, but it is more common during the middle and later stages, when cognitive function begins to decline faster.
Symptoms of Sundowning
Sundowning in dementia can manifest as a few different states and behaviours, which tie back to certain internal or external triggers. When affected in this way, people with dementia may display signs like agitation or confusion. Common symptoms of sundowning include:
Distress
Sundowning in dementia brings a sense of intense confusion, unsettling people with the condition. In this state, they may display agitated behaviour such as restlessness, fidgeting, shouting, arguing or pacing.
Anxiety
People with dementia may react to confusion in subtler ways. If they feel anxious, as though they need to find someone or do something that they have forgotten, they may try putting their coat and shoes on, following others around or asking to leave.
Delusions
Certain memories may surface and lead to delusions, such as needing to go home, go to work or pick their children up from school, even if they are already at home, are retired or their children are now adults.
How to Cope with Sundowning
When someone with dementia has a sundowning episode, there are a few ways to cope with the resulting distress, anxiety and delusions. The following methods can help to reduce sundowning symptoms:
Distractions
To distract the person from their confusion, try focusing their attention on an object or activity. This could mean watching their favourite TV programme, listening to music, reading a book or having them join in with a simple household chore, such as folding laundry.
Calm communications
Since sundowning triggers agitation, remember to speak calmly and clearly to the affected person. Patiently listen to their concerns and reassure them that they are safe. If you feel upset, it’s okay to take a breath and a small break once you have settled them.
Physical contact
Besides speaking calmly, you may find that gentle touching helps to reassure the person and ground them in the present moment. Again, try not to show impatience or frustration while they are in a heightened state.
Bloomin’ Good Dementia Home Care with Blossom
The busy environments of residential care homes can easily trigger confusion and agitation in people with dementia, who can also suffer when there are fewer carers on shift to meet their needs. At home with an attentive private carer, however, dementia patients are able to relax in familiar surroundings and maintain a regular evening routine, helping to reduce sundowning symptoms.
Blossom’s specialist dementia care is entirely tailored to each client’s needs and aims to enhance every aspect of their wellbeing. All our carers are specifically trained to understand and manage dementia symptoms; whether they are helping you move around, joining in with your hobbies or accompanying you to social activities, your Blossom carer is there for you. If you would like a helping hand to continue living as independently as possible in the comfort of your own home, please contact your nearest Blossom office today.