"... when people eat when they are not hungry, it's to get a feeling. Often, it's to get any feeling other than the one they are experiencing, and they seek solace in the sensation food gives them. They become anchored to feeling better when they eat. This is called 'comfort eating'. If you remove the causes of the negative feelings - whether it's a past trauma or anxiety, or a stress of some kind - the need to eat to get rid of that feeling by comfort eating disappears."