Dementia eventually erodes one’s concept of time. Linear time is neither perceived nor understood, and the individual can’t imagine the future as memory deteriorates; only the present moment becomes relevant. The passing of a minute is no different from an hour, the rest of today or tomorrow. Most cognitive tests include drawing the face of a clock. When dementia is present, the numbers get placed in the wrong order. Showing the person the time on a numbered clock might work initially but not during later progression.
This article is reproduced with the permission of the author, Katya De Luisa. Katya resides in Costa Rica and is a dementia educator, caregiver coach, freelance writer and author of “Journey through the Infinite Mind, the science and spirituality of dementia. You can access more of her writing on Patreon.
