@Koldo. And
@ChristineM
Here's another way...say someone has depression. Bad depression. It seems stable at the moment to the person it seems under control. Ok do you know what all goes into kidney donation? Lot of tests, and surgery. That means time off work which means unless your boss gives paid time off financially you might be in trouble. That alone is a stressor enough to trigger a person's depression to get worse not being able to make ends meet. Then you are in pain recovering for 4 to 6 weeks. And that's just so you can go back to work you'll be recovering for six months to a year till you feel back to yourself. Again adds onto depression risks. Now...other risks what if your recipient doesnt make it out of surgery? What if kidney fails? Emotionally that'll be devasting to go through all that and the recipent doesnt make it. It's a risk. And what if they do make it? Either way it's a draining surgery. You could end up regretting it regardless. It could send you into even deeper depression.
Say the person with depression who thought their depression was under control can't handle all the added stressors like they thought. Now they may need to be hospitalized to make sure they don't hurt themselves or anything.
Its a lot. This is why they decline folk for not having a wide enough support system even without depression. Emotionally its rough both on the donor and the recipent. And this isnt even including other risks like family and friends not approving causing arguments, or your boss firing you illegally. Or something going wrong with your surgery complications do happen.
Someone with a depression history could donate. Thats why they do psych evals first. But if they have even an inkling that your depression may be too severe they say no.
