Organ harvesting is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a dead or living person. It has also a huge affect on people psychologically. Most of the people still do not want to harvest their organs because they do not have enough information about it and still every day, 18 people die while waiting for a kidney, liver, heart or other organ transplant. As of June 21, 2013, there are 118,617 people waiting for life-saving organ transplants in the U.S. Despite this need, most of the American people do not donate their organs. According to a survey by Donate Life America, only 37 percent of U.S. residents age 18 and over were registered organ donors in 2009. That survey also found that while most Americans express interest in donating their organs and tissue, misperceptions about the process keep them from doing so. For example, 52 percent of survey respondents said they feared physicians would not try as hard to save their lives if they were organ or tissue donors (Novotney, 2011).
There is no doubt that some potential donors will be psychologically poor candidates to serve as donors (Myaskovsky, 2005). Psychologically, it is really hard to accept that your loved one died. So, it sometimes hard to make families accept to organ donation. They do not want to accept it or they still believe that the person did not die even he or her died. It gives them a hard time and emotionally they feel upset. Siegel, Co-editor with colleague Eusebio Alvaro, PhD, of "Understanding Organ Donation: Applied Behavioral Science Perspectives” says that ‘this is something that people can put off, literally, until they die.’ (Novotney, 2011). Basically, people can donate their organs before they die. All they should do is sign on a donate card and give it to hospitals. Thus, families cannot decide for the person and they may accept the occasion easily. On the other hand, it is a fact that most donors are likely to be motivated by multiple factors. In a series of early studies, Simmons found that 83% of living related kidney donors cited “helping to save the recipient’s life” as the primary reason for donating. However 78% also felt that the donation would make their own lives more worthwhile (Myaskovsky, 2005).
As a result, there are people that think positively about organ donation and there are also people that think negatively. It shows that it depends on people’s thought and emotion. "It sounds like a simple intervention — giving them more time to make their decision — but the potential donor may not have thought that this was even a possibility," Dew says (Novotney, 2011). From a psychological perspective, people definitely need more time to think on it even it seems like a simple intervention.
There is no doubt that some potential donors will be psychologically poor candidates to serve as donors (Myaskovsky, 2005). Psychologically, it is really hard to accept that your loved one died. So, it sometimes hard to make families accept to organ donation. They do not want to accept it or they still believe that the person did not die even he or her died. It gives them a hard time and emotionally they feel upset. Siegel, Co-editor with colleague Eusebio Alvaro, PhD, of "Understanding Organ Donation: Applied Behavioral Science Perspectives” says that ‘this is something that people can put off, literally, until they die.’ (Novotney, 2011). Basically, people can donate their organs before they die. All they should do is sign on a donate card and give it to hospitals. Thus, families cannot decide for the person and they may accept the occasion easily. On the other hand, it is a fact that most donors are likely to be motivated by multiple factors. In a series of early studies, Simmons found that 83% of living related kidney donors cited “helping to save the recipient’s life” as the primary reason for donating. However 78% also felt that the donation would make their own lives more worthwhile (Myaskovsky, 2005).
As a result, there are people that think positively about organ donation and there are also people that think negatively. It shows that it depends on people’s thought and emotion. "It sounds like a simple intervention — giving them more time to make their decision — but the potential donor may not have thought that this was even a possibility," Dew says (Novotney, 2011). From a psychological perspective, people definitely need more time to think on it even it seems like a simple intervention.