Why do I feel like I need to fill a gap when I'm overeating?

It is called comfort eating. You may be overeating because you feel bored or lonely or depressed and seek comfort in food. Eating food can become an addiction. You are not alone in going through this. It becomes a vicious cycle. If you eat too much and become overweight, this will make you feel more depressed. And you'll want to eat more to comfort yourself. Next time you want to eat something, stop for a second and think: "am I really hungry?", "how processed is this food?", "what will eating this do to me?".

Because there are emotional needs which are not satisfied. Overeating seems like a good short-term way of pushing the feelings away.

Because you are lacking joy, or are overwhelmed, which leads to a feeling of "emptiness". As a kid we were always taught that we needed two things to survive: food and water. Sometimes individuals get the feeling that the only thing that hasn't let them down or left them empty was the necessities.

a since of emptiness can be a possible feeling in past experience I've had. or it could be something making you upset that makes you feel the need to “fill the gap"

Eating sometimes feels warm and confortable, and we use it to make ourselfs feel better, in some way because we're too scared to talk with someone, or to lock for supoport.

Because something is missing in your life. Eating physically fills you, and it can be a substitute for what you want emotionally.

sometimes you eat for comfort maybe something is bothering you in life and because you dont know what it is you eat because it makes you feel better x

Stress is the main cause of all eating disorders. If you have testing or family problems or something it might cause you to eat more or less than you normally do.