The Atlantic published an article (link here) on Monday exploring the reasons people don’t donate their organs. I thought the author, Tiffanie Wen, did a very good job of scientifically looking at the reasons, but I found these reasons very frustrating. The reasons cited are:
- mistrust
- lack of understanding
- belief in misinformation
- concern for body integrity
- not willing to discuss death
It’s most frustrating to see that people are concerned about their vanity after death and refuse to even discuss afterlife care. There are a lot of emotions surrounding death and I can see why people don’t want to discuss such an emotionally difficult topic. My brain is wired a little differently, so it’s likely easier for me to see the scientific side of things and according to the article: “the research suggests that the more matter-of-fact attitude people have when talking about death and normalizing the issue of organ donation, the more likely they are to sign up as donors.”
I suggest that we all accept that it doesn’t matter what we look like in death and we should all make an effort to open up a little more and start discussing and addressing emotionally hard topics. It could save someone’s life.
The Derek Janiak Hepatobiliary Forum 
I’m totally with you, man. I have pretty much already accepted that it doesn’t much matter what I look like in life anyway.