“Is it Me, or Isn't It?”—Transplanted Organs and Their Donors As Transitional Objects1

There are indications in psychosomatic transplant literature that the “transitional space” (in the D.W. Winnicott's sense) plays an important part in the psychic integration of an transplanted organ or its donor. The present case study is based on a semi-standard textbook interview carried out in the course of a qualitative research program with 20 male and female patients following a lung transplant. Two transcribed passages in the text, which relate to the transplanted organ and its donor, were interpreted from the point of view of Winnicott's “transitional phenomenon” model. The case study made it clear that, even years after a lung transplant, the patient experiences the organ and donor as transitional objects. The donor, as perceived by the patient, is a living, omnipotent person who is really present and to whom the recipient attributes ideal (personality) qualities. The transplanted lung, however, insofar as a psychosomatic integration of the organ has only partially succeeded, remains in the possession of both the donor and the recipient. The donor, as a typical transitional object, performs a creative function in helping the patient to cope with everyday life. The employment of the donor or the transplanted organ as “transitional object” may be seen, above all, as a positive assimilation strategy. On the other hand, transitional phenomena may also draw attention to desintegrative processes in surmounting an organ transplant. These clinical questions are discussed at the end of the paper.