My mother in law has recently been sectioned and is now in a wonderful small dementia unit. We were so lucky as this was an emergency placement but it could not be more perfect for her. Can anyone answer this? She can remember new names and faces and holds onto these in an obsessive way yet when at home she was unable to tackle even the basic aspects of daily living, washing, dressing, cooking etc. If someone new was to meet her they would think she was perfectly capable. We had a massive problem when we were trying to obtain guardianship in that she objected and was given an independent advocacy to help her and he got a lawyer to fight this through the courts. In the end it became so distressing we gave guardianship to social services and they had her placed in the care home under a court order. The lawyer believes that she was of sound mind to instruct her as she could remember her name and her job. She can also remember all the staff in the unit yet an hour into a visit with her last week she had forgotten my daughter, she remembered her when we arrived but then had no idea as to who she was. I used to be a district nurse and worked with dementia patients and know that they can have periods of lucidity but this retention of names and faces seems at odds with her diagnosis.