Why do we eat when we're depressed?

I once got very depressed and did that too. We call it "comfort foods". I ate and ate til I was full to my stomach then I watched tv and fell asleep. I've heard about comfort foods before as some people resort to when they're depressed. I never thought I would do it myself and only realized it when I found myself not crying and felt like my mind was exhausted and did not want to think anymore about my problem...so off I went to the pantry and ate whatever I could. Sorry to hear about your break up but try to not eat snacks between meals. Take care.

I am not one to eat when I feel sad and depressed. I can not make myself eat. Sorry to hear about your break up.

Food is such a comfort to a lot of people. Sometimes, it reminds them of being taken care of by mom or grandma or someone else they care about. Sometimes, it means giving in to things they normally deny themselves because it cheers them up and they feel like they are being good to themselves or spoiling themselves ("even if no one else will," kind of thinking). I'm really not an emotional eater. It's always frustrated me, when I've had some weight to lose, that the first implication is always that I must eat if I'm bored or angry or sad or what have you. Admittedly, I'll sometimes go looking for a snack when I'm bored (and then, it's usually something salty like chips or pretzels) but really not for any other reason. In fact, if I'm pretty upset, the last thing I think about is food. I go in the complete opposite direction and stop eating :(