The other day a friend mentioned this so I googled it and am stunned because it explains what has begun to happen to Anthony every evening! Other terms used are ‘sundowning’, ‘sundowner’s syndrome’ and ‘sundowners syndrome’. Here is a link to one ‘take’ on this very real problem.
http://www.caring.com/articles/sundown-syndrome
Sundown syndrome is an offshoot of dementia and usually happens as the sun goes down and light turns to dark, but it can also happen at sunrise. Some theories suggest that it has something to do with the 24 hour ‘brain clock’ that responds to changes in light. Other than this it seems to be a bit of a mystery. A person with dementia may be calm during the day but become agitated in the evening, sometimes quite dramatically.
Symptoms can include things like agitation, restlessness, aggressiveness, increased confusion, hallucinations, paranoia and a whole gamut of ‘out-of-character’ behaviours. This is the best explanation I have found yet to explain the last few weeks of Anthony’s increasing bewilderment and misery in the evenings.
Sunset, for Anthony and many others, is not beautiful.
jmgoyder 