ABSTRACT
In typical cases the imprisoned true self is unable to function, and by being protected its opportunity for living experience is limited. Spontaneity and real impulse can only come from the true self, and for this to happen someone needs to take over the defensive functions of the false self. The term "transitional object" was intended to give significance to the first signs in the developing infant of an acceptance of a symbol. Regression is from genital to pregenital erotic experience or fantasy, or it is to fixation points belonging to the life of infancy in which pregenital fantasy is naturally dominant. These terms are used in description of a defensive organisation in which there is a premature taking over of the nursing functions of the mother, so that the infant or child adapts to the environment while at the same time protecting and hiding the true self, or the source of personal impulses.
