Full moon week and Mum

During the week of the full moon, Mum's behaviour would worsen and she would do the strangest things during the night. Things such as; walking around our living room with our flat screen tv in her hand, pulling pictures off the wall that had never been bothered with before, dragging her mirror along with all her bits and bobs off her dressing table, onto the floor, and sitting on the floor in the random areas of the house.

This odd behaviour only seemed to surface around a full moon, so I had to find out if this was a real thing. While there's conflicting research, increased erratic behaviour in people with dementia around a full moon may be due to heightened environmental sensitivity, particularly to changes in light and atmospheric pressure. Though not a scientifically proven effect on dementia, the brighter light and increased shadows of a full moon can be unsettling, and increased atmospheric pressure may affect physical comfort. These environmental factors can be particularly disruptive for individuals already experiencing confusion from dementia, potentially triggering symptoms like anxiety, agitation, and increased wandering. 

Mum definitely became more anxious during these episodes and this also increased her incontinence for a brief period. Her speech became harder to make sense of, more of a babble than anything else, maybe she was hallucinating or dreaming during these times too.