Advantages & Disadvantages of Donating Blood
You think about donating blood but are not entirely sure whether this would be a good idea or not?
Great! Stick with me since I will show you all the pros and cons of donating blood in the following article!
Advantages of Donating Blood
- You can help people to survive by giving blood
- Donating blood as civil duty
- You can feed your altruistic nature
- You can be a role model for other people
- Donating blood enables you to get free health checkups
- You often get paid for donating blood
- You can donate plasma on a regular basis
- Donating blood may reduce stress
- You can show the world what a great guy or gal you are
- You may get a feeling of purpose
- You can meet like-minded people by donating blood
- May reduce the risk of heart attacks and other serious health issues
- You can lose weight by donating blood
- You can overcome your fears
- Donating blood stimulates blood cell production
You can help people to survive by giving blood
One major advantage of donating blood is that you can help people survive.
Due to accidents and other unpleasant things that may happen every day, people need blood to survive on a regular basis and if they can’ get blood donations, they will no longer be able to continue their lives.
Thus, by giving blood, you can literally save the lives of many people and can therefore do lots of good for others who will be thankful for your support forever.
Donating blood as civil duty
Many people out there also consider donating blood a civic duty.
In fact, every healthy person can donate blood with only very little risk and the reward of saving lives can be considered much greater than the potential risk involved in it.
Hence, you may also get critical comments from society in case you decide against blood donation and you may be much more appreciated by your circle of friends if you make the step and donate blood on a regular basis.
You can feed your altruistic nature
Another upside to donating plasma is that you can also feed your altruistic nature. You may not know it, but everyone of us has an altruistic core and we as humans really like doing good for others, even though we might not be able to see it with all the stress that comes along in life.
Thus, by donating blood, you will know that you do good for others and that you can help other people survive. In turn, you may live a much happier life since you know that other people depend on your support and this will make it much easier for you to overcome difficult periods of your life.
You can be a role model for other people
Donating blood can also make sense to be a role model for others.
We as humans are greatly influenced by the people around us and if we see someone we like doing certain things, we are much more likely to do those things as well.
Thus, by donating blood, you can show your circle of friends that it is really important to help out others and your friends will be more likely to support your mission as well. In the long run, you can influence many people in a positive manner and can therefore spread the news of the importance of blood donation to reach as many people as possible.
Donating blood enables you to get free health checkups
Another benefit of blood donations is that you can also get free health checkups on a regular basis.
Before you are able to donate blood, doctors have to make sure that you don’t suffer from serious diseases and that you also don’t carry diseases that may be transmittable to other people.
Consequently, while many other people spend lots of money on health checkups, you can get them for free and those checkups enable you to live a healthier life since you can spot potential issues and work on them to get relief for your body as soon as possible.
You often get paid for donating blood
Donating blood cannot only be great from an altruistic perspective, but there is also something in it for you.
In most cases, you will at least get free gifts and sometimes, you even get monetary benefits by donating blood.
Thus, donating blood may also help your finances and in case you urgently need money and don’t want to sell your stuff, blood donation may be the way out for you and can improve your financial standing.
You can donate plasma on a regular basis
Another reason why you should consider donating blood is that your body will produce new blood on a regular basis once you donate it and you can donate blood on a regular basis.
Thus, you will be able to donate blood multiple times per year and your body will produce fresh blood which is often of better quality than your old blood.
Donating blood may reduce stress
Studies have shown that donating blood can also reduce your stress level.
Not only will you feel pretty good about your blood donation since you know that you did good for others, but it can also help you on a physical level since you will often feel tired and even in case certain things stress you right now, you may no longer have the power to worry about them and may be able to unplug from your stressful life for a while.
You can show the world what a great guy or gal you are
By giving blood, you can also get lots of appreciation from others.
Not only your family and friends will admire you for what you are doing for others, but also random people whom you talk to may find it interesting and may greatly support your mission.
In turn, you may become much more confident since you may feel like a valued member of society and respected by the general public.
You may get a feeling of purpose
Donating blood may also help you find a purpose in life.
In fact, many people out there really struggle to find meaning and just live a boring and sad life.
However, by donating blood, you can find real meaning since you can save the lives of many people and this thought may help you push through difficult periods of your life and overcome your struggles.
In turn, you may be much more motivated to get out of bed and to work since you know that other people rely on your support.
You can meet like-minded people by donating blood
Giving blood can also be great in the sense that you will find many like-minded people during the process.
In fact, you will have to turn up at certain locations to donate blood where many other people have the same goal as you.
In turn, while you will be waiting for your blood donation, you will get the opportunity to talk to many people and over time, you may find really good friends through this process since you may share the same interests and attitudes towards life.
Thus, donating blood can also help you socialize in case you are a rather shy person who is afraid to talk to strangers in public.
May reduce the risk of heart attacks and other serious health issues
Studies indicate that donating blood may also reduce the risk of heart attack and other serious health problems since your body will get rid of old blood and will benefit from newly produced blood that is often of higher quality.
You can lose weight by donating blood
Studies also have found that donating blood can help you lose weight.
In fact, donating blood burns calories and even though you might not get slim from one day to the other, your blood donation can still be a motivator to work out harder and to get in better shape so that you are able to donate blood for many years to come.
You can overcome your fears
Donating blood may also help you overcome your fears.
Many people are afraid of donating blood in the first place.
However, if you overcome your fears and go for it, you will see that it is not as problematic as you might have thought and you may also get the great feeling of really achieving something.
Moreover, you will also have an easier time overcoming your fears in various parts of your future life since you have done it before and became more confident due to it.
Donating blood stimulates blood cell production
Blood donation can also be great since it stimulates blood cell production and in some way cleans our bodies since our blood is replaced on a regular basis and old used blood is replaced by new high-quality new blood.
As you can see, donating blood can make lots of sense for various reasons.
However, it is still not all upside and we also have to talk about the problems that come along with it so that you can better decide whether you still want to go for it or rather don’t want to donate blood.
Disadvantages of Giving Blood
- You may feel tired after giving blood
- You may not be eligible for donating blood
- Donating blood can be a little bit painful
- Risk of complications
- You have to do some paperwork
- You have to test yourself on a regular basis
- Donating plasma may be problematic if you can’t see blood
- You may feel weak after blood donations
- You may have to deal with dizziness
- Age restrictions related to donating plasma
- Donating blood may lead to bruises
- Donating blood can be time-consuming
- You don’t know who gets your blood
- You may experience unpleasant surprises
- Fainting may become an issue
- Vomiting is possible
You may feel tired after giving blood
One problem with donating blood is that you often feel tired after finishing the process since your body lost lots of precious blood and takes time to produce new blood to compensate for it.
Hence, during the day you donate blood, you will not have the same power as you are used to and may have to relax quite a lot.
This can be problematic, especially during times you have to deal with lots of stress at work and have to deal with lots of time pressure to really get things done.
Thus, before donating blood, make sure that you have enough time to recover to avoid serious problems related to your blood donation.
You may not be eligible for donating blood
While many people can give blood, others may just not be eligible for donating blood.
For instance, if you suffer from a certain disease, your risk of donating blood may simply be too high and you may therefore not be able to participate in it.
Thus, before you decide on donating blood, you should also make sure to fulfill the physical and medical requirements for it.
Donating blood can be a little bit painful
While it is not a major problem, donating blood can also be a little bit painful and you will have to rest with a needle in your arm for a few minutes, which may feel quite uncomfortable and if you are a rather sensible person, donating blood may not be for you.
Risk of complications
Another downside to donating blood is that there is always a certain risk for serious complications.
While this risk is pretty low, it is not zero and if you are unlucky, you may suffer from serious health problems related to your blood donation.
You have to do some paperwork
Giving blood also implies doing lots of paperwork. Before you are able to donate blood for the first time, you will also have to give away lots of personal information so that doctors can decide whether you are eligible for blood donation or not.
Hence, before you are able to do good for others, you have to spend your time on rather boring administrative work and this may be really annoying.
You have to test yourself on a regular basis
If you want to give blood on a regular basis, you will also have to do checkups on a regular basis so that doctors can be sure that you are still healthy enough to donate blood.
Thus, if you are not willing to do those checkups, you may not become happy with donating blood in the long run.
Donating plasma may be problematic if you can’t see blood
Some people are also quite sensitive and just can’t see blood at all. In such a case, you may not want to go for blood donation since it may stress you too much and you may be at high risk of suffering from mental issues related to your blood donation.
You may feel weak after blood donations
Another disadvantage of donating blood is that you may also feel pretty weak after blood donations.
This is due to the fact that your body will use lots of energy to replace blood cells as soon as possible and you will therefore feel like a completely different person and it may take a few days until you fully recover.
You may have to deal with dizziness
Many people who give blood also report dizziness and nausea and just don’t feel well after their blood donation.
This is quite logical since blood donations stress our bodies in the short run while they can still benefit you in the long run.
Thus, you should not be surprised if you feel a little bit dizzy after giving blood and should also have someone who is able to drive you home to avoid the risk of traffic accidents related to your dizziness.
Age restrictions related to donating plasma
You will also have to meet certain age restrictions before you are able to donate blood.
If you are too young, you may just not be eligible from an age perspective and in most countries, you have to be 18 years or older before you are able to donate blood.
Donating blood may lead to bruises
Even though this is a relatively minor issue, you will also have to deal with bruises on a regular basis after donating blood and this may ruin your looks for a while.
Hence, if your appearance is really important to you and you don’t want to deal with unpleasant bruises, you may also not want to go for blood donation.
Donating blood can be time-consuming
Donating blood may also be time-consuming.
Not only will you have to spend some time on the actual process, but you will also have to do checkups and also spend lots of time on paperwork.
Consequently, you will have to invest some time in this project and if you are a rather impatient person, you may not become happy with donating blood in the long run.
You don’t know who gets your blood
While you can do good for society in general, you will never know who will benefit from your blood donation and you may therefore support people you don’t like at all.
You may experience unpleasant surprises
Since you will have to do checkups on a regular basis, you may also experience unpleasant surprises regarding your own health status.
For instance, you might carry diseases you might never have been aware of and this may really put you in a difficult spot, especially if those diseases cannot be treated in a proper manner and you may just feel lost from one day to the other.
Fainting may become an issue
Another common problem when donating blood is fainting.
In fact, giving blood is an exhausting process for our bodies and some people are just not able to deal with those things well and may show those side reactions.
Vomiting is possible
If you are really sensitive in this regard, you may also start vomiting during or after giving blood and this can be really embarrassing.
Top 10 Blood Donation Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Blood Donation Pros | Blood Donation Cons |
|---|---|
| Donating blood can save lives | Blood donation may make you feel dizzy |
| You can feed your altruistic nature | You may feel week |
| Health benefits related to blood donation | You stress your body |
| You can get a purpose in life | You may not be eligible for blood donation |
| You can get a higher social status | Bruises are quite common |
| You can be a role model | You may have to deal with complications |
| Donating blood may reduce stress | Donating blood may be time-consuming |
| You can live a healthier life | You have to do checkups on a regular basis |
| Donating blood as civic duty | Not good if you are a sensitive person |
| Financial benefits of blood donation | You have to do some paperwork |
Should You Donate Blood?
Now that you know all the advantages and disadvantages of donating blood, it is on you to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons or not.
In my opinion, donating blood is a great thing to do good for others as long as you are healthy enough so that your risk of suffering from complications will be low enough to justify it.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_donation
https://www.statista.com/topics/7512/blood-donation-in-the-us/
About the author
My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.
As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.
After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.
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