Emotional Impact of Sibling Bone Marrow Donors

This thesis reports on a study of the emotional impact on sibling bone marrow donors. lt considers in particular donation that takes place during their adolescence and was prompted by the concern of medical and nursing
colleagues managing the treatment of young people with cancer. The study
interviewed five donors and discusses these interviews using the lens of
psychoanalytic theory to offer a deeper understanding of these donors'
experiences.
Understood in this way, particularly using the psychoanalytic concept of
projective identification, a main finding of the study is that whilst these donors would not have refused to donate, based on the love and duty of a filial relationship, the donation evoked complex emotions arising from the sense of the physiological merging of two people.
The study makes some recommendations to change current practice within the hospital where I work in order to improve the psychological management and care of sibling bone marrow donors.