The emotional impact of HAE is real. If you are living with HAE, you have probably experienced a range of emotions surrounding your condition.

Unfortunately, people with HAE experience higher levels of anxiety and depression compared to those without HAE.

Anxiety may revolve around:

• Fear of your next attack, including a serious attack in the throat
• Travelling far from home
• Perceived burden on care partners, friends, and family
• Passing HAE on to children

While it is normal to experience this range of emotions, you don’t have to live with these feelings all of the time.

Part of looking after your overall well-being is being aware of your emotions and knowing when to get help.

HAE attacks are unpredictable. Feeling anxious about the potential for an unexpected attack is normal but can sometimes be overwhelming.

If you find yourself planning your life around potential HAE attacks, it may be time to re-evaluate your HAE control.

If you’re worrying about your next attack, you may not commit to doing things with your family and friends—like taking a trip or hosting a dinner party. After all, if you don’t make plans in the first place, then you avoid the risk of needing to cancel them.

However, this can result in you feeling socially isolated from the people in your life and can make the cycle of anxiety and depression worse.

In terms of school or work, the impact of HAE goes beyond just being absent during attacks.

In several patient surveys, people with HAE reported that HAE:

• Hindered their career and/or educational advancement
• Reduced their productivity
• Increased their absence from work
• Prevented them from applying to certain jobs
• Led to a perceived lack of understanding or support in the workplace
• Did not allow them to go as far in school as desired
• Negatively impacted educational choices

HAE can sometimes influence your family planning decisions.

Pregnancy may worsen, improve, or have no effect on your HAE. With so much unknown about HAE and pregnancy, female patients have reported fear that their condition may be a risk factor for pregnancy.

While the other questions in this reflection guide explore common concerns among people with HAE, your experience with HAE is completely personal to you.