Elizabeth Eichen submerges her body in a warm bubble bath after a long, stressful day. She said she likes to take time at the end of the day to unwind, collect herself and try to find a semblance of inner peace. "ED is not so loud in here," she said.
Elizabeth, a 21-year-old student at North Carolina State University, has been actively battling cycles of bingeing and purging for the last eight years. She calls her eating disorder ED as a reminder that her negative thoughts do not reflect how she feels about herself. I'm treating mental illness like regular illness, she said. "ED is an invader," Elizabeth said. "ED sounds like me. If I close my eyes, ED looks like sick me, but in reality it's just a voice in my head."