“The Borderline Personality and Transitional Relatedness”, 1981-02 (; backlinks):
Borderline patients may be distinguished from patients with personality disorders through the former’s use of transitional objects.
The transitional relatedness of the borderline patient is generally rigid and maladaptive. By comparison, transitional relatedness, both past and present, is essentially absent in patients with severe character disorders.
The borderline patient’s capacity for transitional relatedness indicates achievement of a developmental level that has implications for diagnostic classification and psychotherapeutic strategy.
…As a child she developed the habit of talking to her stuffed animals, who “understood” her hurt feelings. She felt better when she played with them. However, she said that immediately before admission, she found that talking with the stuffed animals no longer “worked” to soothe her. The animals no longer “sympathized” with her as she wished, and she felt they were hypersensitive, jealous, envious, suspicious, and resentful.