Loss of the imagined past: an emotional obstacle to medical compliance in kidney transplant recipients

Abstract

Among kidney transplant recipients, the concepts of grief and bereavement have been considered in terms of graft rejection, side effects of drugs, or death of the donor. However, our research suggests that even after a successful kidney transplantation, patients may present with feelings of bereavement, grief, or low mood, which may appear paradoxical because they have just received a much desired transplant. This sense of bereavement should be considered in terms of an imagined past, which may help to understand the patient's current mood changes and medical noncompliance. In the case report presented here, we have used the concept of systemic integrative psychotherapy to analyze change in a patient's life. Based on our research, we suggest that feelings of bereavement and grief are generated as patients come to terms with their past, which has been irretrievably lost to chronic illness, and contemplate their future. Feelings of grief and bereavement in the posttransplant period may be due to the loss of an imagined past, and must be differentiated from the bereavement the patient feels for the donor and the donor family. These feeling of loss, if not resolved, may lead to social isolation and medical noncompliance.