In certain cases, peeling is less of a sensory experience than it is a mental one. "Some people have beliefs about [sunburn], so it feels good from a thought process way," Dr. Mouton-Odum says. For example, you might be under the assumption that if you peel old skin off, new skin will grow back, or you might think that the skin is dead and therefore has to be picked off. (It's actually better to let your skin moult on its own , because peeling can result in scarring.) "Sometimes people feel like they’re achieving some goal in peeling off their skin," she says. The action can also be emotional, and people actually feel a sense of relief or sense of pleasure from pulling or peeling the skin, she says. And then, some people will say that peeling is just a habit and it doesn't do anything for them.