The capital's psychologist told how not to be afraid to become a donor

Why you need to stop being afraid to donate blood

More than half of Russians (63%) are not ready to become donors Photo: Anna Mayorova © URA.RU

Donors are honored on June 14 - the World Health Organization (WHO) created this holiday to encourage people to be more active in donating blood, prolonging and saving lives. But not everyone will dare to undergo the procedure - many are afraid of fainting from the sight of their own blood, harming their health, or becoming infected with something from the needles. Together with the head of the blood transfusion department of the Moscow Center named after. Bakulev Alexey Kupryashov debunks the main myths about donation in the material URA.RU.

More than half of Russians (63%) are not ready to become donors, according to a survey by VTsIOM. Basically, these are people who cannot donate blood due to health reasons or age. But there is also a large proportion of those who find other reasons.

“Donation is harmful to health, and after the procedure everyone faints”

Our body is ready for small blood losses, and the volume of blood that the donor gives does not exceed acceptable physiological limits. On average, 4 liters of blood circulate in the body of an adult, and if you periodically give 500 ml - approximately 12% of the total volume, nothing terrible will happen. It’s another matter if a person has a body weight of less than 50 kg or diseases of the blood, hematopoietic organs, or low hemoglobin. In this case, he simply will not be allowed to donate.

Losing 500 ml of blood is most often painless for the body

Photo: Anna Mayorova © URA.RU

If you are healthy and donate blood, you may actually faint after the procedure. “Fainting is a complication of donation, which is associated with the regulation of vascular tone. We are ready for this, we quickly remove donors from these states. And I must say that even those who survived them later return to us again,” shares Kupryashov. Fainting occurs due to an imbalance in the water balance in the donor's body. But it is quite possible to avoid them - you need to drink a lot before and after donation. Before the procedure itself, you should have a good breakfast.

“By donating blood, you can get an infection or virus”

At the blood transfusion station, safety is taken very seriously - disposable sterile equipment is used, and doctors open all needles and syringes in front of the donor. “The risk of infection is completely eliminated. We work only with disposable systems - one donor, one system. They are factory-made and properly sterilized, so infection with anything is impossible,” assures Kupryashov

Infection is also impossible because nothing is injected into the donor’s blood - doctors only take the required amount of blood, carefully treating the venipuncture site. The donor itself is also a priori safe for recipients - only those who have passed tests for hepatitis, HIV and tuberculosis with negative results are allowed to undergo the procedure.

“Donating blood is painful, long and tiring”

Most often, the procedure is limited to the unpleasant sensations of having a needle inserted into a vein. They are familiar to everyone who has at least once donated blood from a vein for testing or has been on a drip. But then the blood calmly enters the system, without causing discomfort to the donor.

The standard blood donation procedure takes no more than 20 minutes

Photo: Anna Mayorova © URA.RU

“The timing of donation depends on its type. If we take the blood completely, it takes no more than 15-20 minutes. If it is plasma, then about 30-40 minutes. If we are talking about the preparation of cellular elements - platelets, for example, this can take up to two hours,” says Kupryashov. Most often, the whole blood is donated, so it won’t take much time.

If you have prepared correctly, then afterward you will definitely not feel tired or lack of strength. “I haven’t noticed any weakness in donors; if everything goes away without fainting, they, on the contrary, often note a surge of strength and vigor,” the doctor emphasizes.

“Fresh donor blood is not so needed. Moreover, there are various substitutes"

Today in the world there are no substitutes for red blood cells (the main blood cells that carry oxygen and color it red - editor's note) that could be used in the clinic. There are also no platelet substitutes. Therefore, the demand for donated blood in hospitals remains high. “The need for blood remains both for physical use and for the production of drugs and components,” notes Kupryashov.

If we talk about blood plasma, people have really learned to produce concentrates and drugs that can partially replace it. But to obtain these substances, you still cannot do without real plasma. Now the donation of this substance is especially relevant, because it has begun to be used to treat coronavirus. Patients with antibodies to the infection can share immunity with those at risk of developing a severe form of the disease.

In 2021, blood was donated more than 2.8 million times in Russia, and its total volume exceeded 735 thousand liters. But even this scale is not enough to help everyone - the need for blood is always high.

If you look at the “Donor traffic light” of the Russian blood service, you can see that in Moscow alone, dozens of hospitals glow red. This means they are critically short of donor blood.

“By donating blood regularly, you can gain weight. Or lose your natural complexion"

Contrary to popular misconceptions, donors do not gain weight at all after donating blood, and their complexion does not change. The only change in appearance that may occur is the appearance of a characteristic scar at the site of blood sampling. But not everyone faces this problem, notes Kupryashov.

“This only happens with very frequent blood donations. This is a kind of distinctive sign of honorary donors. Usually doctors prick in the same place, where the vein is thicker, since the needles used are quite thick. And if a person donates blood often, then after the 50th or 60th time a scar appears on the skin, like with constant cuts,” says the doctor

“If I still decide to donate blood, then it’s worth eating properly. For example, eat more high-calorie foods."

A good breakfast before the procedure is the key to ensuring that the blood donation goes without complications. However, doctors do not recommend eating high-calorie, fatty foods on the eve of donation and immediately before it. According to Kupryashov, fats enter the blood, causing its quality to deteriorate, which means it becomes more difficult to prepare and store.

Before the procedure, you should have a good breakfast, avoiding high-calorie foods and dishes.

Photo: Anna Mayorova © URA.RU

The second dietary restriction is bananas. They are very rich in potassium, of which there is already enough in donor blood, so they should also be abandoned. But there are no problems with carbohydrates - before the procedure you can eat sweet cereals with water, chocolate, cookies in your usual doses.

There are other important tips: 72 hours before the procedure you should stop taking medications (aspirin- and analgesic-containing drugs), you should forget about alcohol 48 hours before. And one hour before donating blood, you should not smoke.

You can find out where you can become a donor in your city on the Blood Service website.

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Causes

The causes of hemophobia are always psychological in nature. If a person is afraid of pain, the reason for the fear is an exaggeration of the pain syndrome that the patient once experienced. It is common for a victim of a phobia to make a tragedy out of the procedure and exaggerate the discomfort during blood donation. Reasons why the patient is afraid of the procedure:

• fear of blood;
• negative experience;
• incorrect attitudes and associations;
• associated phobias.

A person is afraid to see his own or someone else’s blood - these are different phobias. Fear of the sight of your blood is a defensive reaction. Fear of the sight of someone else's blood is expressed in disgust towards people or fear of becoming infected. You need to understand the causes of fear by studying possible and additional causes of irrational fear.

The phobia is intensified by obsessive states: if the patient is afraid of needles, unsterile objects, or the smells of medical institutions, the future procedure causes panic fear. Over time, the phobia develops, and the patient avoids the test procedure to the detriment of his own health.

The reasons for the phobia may lie in the negative experience of donating blood.

Consequences

Sometimes, after donating blood, swelling or bruising may appear from a vein. Doctors advise not to use this hand in everyday work in the coming days and apply cold to the injection site. If it hurts, you can take a painkiller. If swelling and pain do not go away for a long time, you need to consult a doctor.

Hematoma after blood sampling

"Bad Veins"

There are times when a nurse cannot get into a vein. This happens due to the anatomical features of the vascular system, frequent puncture of veins for the purpose of administering drugs, and thrombosis. Typically, people with “bad veins” do not like to donate blood. If it is not possible to find a vein in the elbow, it is inserted into another part of the body.

If the nurse does not hit the vein, it is quite possible that she is inexperienced and just starting to work. If she fails to insert the needle after two tries, you can ask another nurse to come.

Main symptoms

A child and an adult perceive threat differently. The baby's first defensive reaction is hysteria. In adult patients, the phobia manifests itself differently: he deliberately ignores the procedure. A person stocks up with a whole arsenal of excuses why he won’t be able to undergo the procedure. Manifestations of hemophobia:

• uncontrollable panic attacks;
• loss of consciousness;
• confusion of thoughts;
• shortness of breath (a person is suffocating and cannot take a deep breath);
• cardiopalmus;
• tremor of the upper and lower extremities.

Manifestations of hemophobia cannot be controlled; spontaneous reactions occur when there is a need to take blood. The fear of blood makes you nervous.

A panic attack is accompanied by increased anxiety. This condition may last for several hours after the procedure.

Hemophobia causes increased sweating, chills and chest pain. During an attack, a person poses a danger to himself and others.

A progressive phobia affects the perception of reality: dizziness and headaches, temporary clouding of reason. An obsessive condition needs urgent treatment.

Treatment of hemophobia

Fear is a normal protective reaction of the body. The psyche senses a threat and immediately reacts to it. The fear of blood is not fatal, but it does affect human behavior. If the problem is a fear of blood, it is necessary to develop resistance to the sight of it. Habituation occurs along with establishing new affirmations.

Phobia with an acute reaction is less common. In most cases, the manifestation of fear is an anxious state. Psychotherapeutic techniques are used to help the patient: the level of fear is reduced, the true cause of the phobia is determined.

Emergency assistance to the patient if the fear of blood suddenly manifests itself:

• the patient sits in a comfortable position, the head tilts towards the knees (in this position, blood rushes to the head and the pressure decreases);
• breathing is restored (even breathing helps to calm down and reduce anxiety);
• After the exercise, you need to stand up and relieve tension from the muscles.

Such help is needed in cases where a panic attack interferes with diagnosis.

The primary task is to establish control over your own body. If a person cannot control the body's reactions, the phobia will only intensify over time.

Correct installation

Attitudes are internal beliefs that are formed in early childhood. After the first visit to the doctor, the baby forms an impression of the procedures completed. Negative experiences are the main cause of hemophobia in the future.

Impressionable people suffer from hemophobia. They are accustomed to react sharply to any environmental changes. It is difficult for hypochondriacs who are afraid of infection to cope with medical procedures.

Working with a psychoanalyst will help you get rid of the feeling of fear: a person works on his own thinking, gets rid of attitudes embedded in the subconscious.

Drug treatment

Hemophobia is not a dangerous irrational fear. In most cases, treatment is accomplished without drug therapy. A course of sedative tablets is prescribed for increased anxiety. Sedatives provide temporary relief and are not a cure. Tranquilizers are not prescribed in case of hemophobia.

Exercises to calm down

The best option for getting rid of hemophobia is physical exercise, which helps relieve excess stress. Adaptive responses are shaped by self-control skills. Breathing exercises will help you calm down in a short time. In a comfortable position (sitting or standing), it is necessary to restore breathing. Don't hold your breath. As soon as your breathing calms down, hold your breath for 2-3 seconds for every 5th breath. Then breathing is restored again. The exercise is repeated at least 3 times.

Meditation to treat hemophobia

Meditation is an effective calming technique. It does not fight the cause of the phobia, but helps to counter the spontaneous reactions of the body. Meditation calms anxiety, relieves stress and muscle tension.

Yoga classes are suitable for preventing the development of additional phobias. In combination with psychoanalysis, the relaxation technique allows you to get rid of the obsessive state.

Meditation is an effective calming technique