Time is one of the most familiar things we share; until dementia begins to change how it feels, moves, and connects us.
For a person living with dementia, time can stop making sense in a linear way. Morning may feel like yesterday, and yesterday might still be happening now. The brain’s internal clock, guided by the temporal lobes and hippocampus, no longer keeps a reliable rhythm. This creates a world where memories, emotions, and needs blend across moments.
The science behind “losing track” of time
The brain’s ability to track time relies on a healthy balance between memory and awareness. The hippocampus helps us locate experiences in sequence (“what happened first”), while the frontal lobe allows us to plan and anticipate (“what comes next”). When dementia affects these areas, the natural flow between past, present, and future becomes blurred.
This isn’t confusion — it’s the brain re-experiencing life in a nonlinear loop.
Living in the person’s time
Families often try to pull the person back to “our now,” but that can create stress for everyone.
Instead, join them where they are. If a person believes they’re waiting for their parents, acknowledge the feeling of waiting rather than correcting the year. When care routines such as meals or medication, don’t align with their inner clock, use consistent rhythm, sound, and light to gently guide them.
Even simple cues like daylight through an open curtain or a familiar song played at the same time daily can help the body re-learn the day’s natural rhythm.
Rebalancing your own time
Caring for someone living with dementia means living between two clocks; yours and theirs.
This dual rhythm can easily drain emotional energy if families don’t structure time to recharge. The Launex Family Pathway Course teaches how to create time that restores both lives:
- Social time for connection and belonging
- Quiet time for processing emotions
- Nourishment time through balanced diet and hydration
- Rest time that follows the body’s natural cues, not just the clock
Building this rhythm forms part of what Launex calls Brain Health in Motion — maintaining mental balance by dividing time between body, mind, and relationship health.
Creating meaningful anchors in the day
Because time can drift for the person living with dementia, creating emotional anchors helps re-establish stability without confrontation. These anchors might be routine sensory experiences: the sound of a kettle, the smell of morning toast, or the touch of a warm blanket before bed. Each act as a signal of belonging and continuity, even when the clock itself feels unfamiliar. These cues should be simple, repeatable, and rooted in comfort, helping the person to feel oriented through atmosphere rather than correction.
The Launex Perspective
Understanding time in dementia isn’t only about clocks — it’s about communication.
When families learn to move with, rather than against, a person’s altered sense of time, trust and calm naturally grow. The Launex Dementia Brain Map™ offers a visual way to understand these changes, linking memory, emotion, and time perception to real-world care strategies.
Launex Compliance Statement
This article aligns with the standards and frameworks of the World Health Organization (WHO), International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF), Care Quality Commission (CQC), and International Coaching Federation (ICF).