Mirror Dimension

CatsWithHandsAreTrouble

Lately my mom seems a little confused with mirrors. I would try and talk to her and she'd start walking away, but then I see that she's found me in a mirror and was going towards that. I can't get her to go to me unless I get out of the mirror's reflection and call again. Other times she understands mirrors and fixes her hair or shirt when she passes by one. Once in a while she'd smile and wave at the "lady in the mirror."

In the past I've looked up in the search here about PWD and their, sometimes very negative, opinions on mirrors. My own home has loads of mirrors, not counting all the reflective surfaces. So that's tucked away in the back of my mind to be on the lookout for my mom. 

But anyway, I was just curious about if there was any signs when or if mirrors would be agitating. Not many of the post mentioned events prior to the mirror confusions. So far mom hasn't shown any negativity to her reflection, and whenever I catch her smiling and waving at herself and ask about it, she says it's her friend or "just playing around." I do know she doesn't recognize herself in pictures majority of the time, but she does know that that crazy person is wearing her shirt! Lol!

harshedbuzz

CWHAT-

This is one of those issues in dementia that is a problem or isn't. 

If your mom isn't upset by her image or enjoys primping in the mirror or visiting with her new friend, there's no need to do anything. 

If she starts to develop a psychosis around reflections, then you'll likely need to take steps to deal with this. It should be really obvious if she does. My dad didn't have issues with actual mirrors but we had to protect him from seeing reflections in windows after dark. The house from which I moved him overlooked a golf course and the large expanses of windows in the LR/DR were uncovered which triggered dad when he saw himself or someone else reflected. He ended up hospitalized for an episode that may have been triggered by this after which I moved him out of that house so I wasn't able to test my theory.

HB

Mirrors Can Cause Challenging Dementia Behavior: 10 Solutions – DailyCaring

CatsWithHandsAreTrouble

HB, thanks so much for the link! I'll definitely add that to my bookmarks. Our own living room windows might be a problem come the shorter days. We can't close off the window as the curtains are only sheer and we get a lot of traffic after 5 with neighbors returning home from work. Thanks for sharing about your dad, that was insightful!

I'm hoping that she'll stay friends with the reflection. Their bedroom has a half wall of mirrors :O

MN Chickadee

My mom had some odd visual perceptions starting in late stage 5 but they didn't get bad until 6. And even then they were manageable. She would occasionally think mirrors were other people but it didn't upset her. I suspect in her mind she was a young woman and didn't recognize the old lady there.  One time she spoke to a pair of my boots thinking it was the cat. Another she thought there was a bird in the house. But generally if these things aren't upsetting you don't need to do anything (other than not argue whether it is true, just agree and move on.) Darkness was a problem in stage 6, my mother would get sundowners some evenings. Her second MC where we moved her in stage 6 had a nice set up for that. The bedrooms were around the most of the perimeter and the common living room and dining room were in the center. Those who got spooked by the dark were moved to the common area for tv or music in the evenings and you couldn't really tell it was dark unless you moved to one end. They were encouraged to be in the activity area near the big windows on that end during the day but not at night. In my area darkness comes early in the winter, like 4:30 in December so it was nice they had an approach. You might find covering windows becomes necessary. Sometimes pictures on the walls are a problem, especially if they are large portraits of people. But for now don't sweat it. As long as she isn't worried and you don't act worried you can ignore it.

​fesk

I agree with all the responses. It's only a problem if she becomes agitated. In addition to windows and pictures, the television may become an issue. There may come a time when she will be confused and think people on the television are in the house.

May flowers

I’m glad you brought up the TV, Fesk, we are dealing with this right now. My FIL has been fussing at people on TV, especially if someone on TV is hollering or screaming. We try to only play “calm” shows, but that was the Waltons, lol.

ButterflyWings

Cats, I have been waiting and watching out for this too. Thanks for mentioning the change in visual perceptions Chickadee, I hadn’t connected that to the rest of what’s happening here. There is often a face or something else questionable DH “sees” in his food for example. Sometimes he’ll show me like a little kid looking for confirmation or reassurance. That is increasing. DH has also been hallucinating (more) lately and I noticed him doing something else odd that I had not seen before. After one of many daily toilet trips, he was washing his hands and I noticed him staring at the mirror. 

At first I thought he was checking himself out which he sometimes does...maybe will splash a little water on his forehead or make sure there’s no food in his teeth...just a habit. But he just kept staring. Then I noticed him make a face (like “who are you looking at”), and I was really surprised to see him shake his fist (at himself). 

I asked what was going on & he said he was just letting the guy know not to mess with him. Or something to that effect. It broke the spell & he exited the bathroom. I haven’t seen him do anything like that since. Relieved, as I don’t want him picking a fight with himself! We have enough to deal with as it is. 

He’s seeing and hearing people, and I heard him answering back yesterday. Sigh. I just keep telling him they left, will be back another day, I let them out and locked the door myself, etc. etc. If I had to, I would cover all the mirrors with fabric or sheets or curtains, but thankfully we don’t have a full wall of mirrors (!) And they don’t seem to be an issue except that one time.

GothicGremlin

I saw just a hint of this the other day.  I was visiting Peggy in her room in memory care. We were arranging a few things on her dresser.  The dresser is cute - it belonged to our great-grandmother, and it has a big mirror attached to it. Peggy looked up into the mirror and said "It's me!" She waited for a couple of seconds and then said "And you!"  I agreed, yes, it was indeed the two of us.  She wasn't upset or anything, maybe a little startled? Still, that dresser has been there for over 8 months, and it's been mostly ignored. So now I'm paying more attention to her interactions with it, hoping this incident isn't a harbinger.

​fesk

We had different stages with the mirrors. At one point, I did have to cover them. I used decorative window film - like an etched glass. It went on easily with water and removes easily without any damage. They have many different styles, so it should be easy to find something you like. Thankfully, we're now at the stage that she mostly smiles and waves at the person in the mirror.

May flowers, for the tv, there are times when she is just not having it no matter what is on. Other times, it can be on with no issue. I also keep calm shows on, yep have had the Waltons on - Little House on the Prairie too, but when she is ok with it, home and cooking shows can be watched too.

I will say when the med got to the right dose both issues were more manageable.  

CatsWithHandsAreTrouble

Thanks for the comment fesk about it being possible to change from a negative reaction to positive again. Gives me some reassurance should it happen. 

A couple months ago mom did have an episode where she thought the bad guys from my dad's tv show were in the house to kill her and I ended up getting the short end of the stick with that. I think that was before we established a more firm bed routine with her so she was sleep deprived then. Mostly now she watches Bob Barker on the Price is Right and some family/kids movies that we know are mostly calm and without over the top drama.