Nerd info: the name is kinda interesting, as it refers to the GABA receptors in our brain. (there's GABA A and GABA B, but that goes a bit far). Alcohol and benzodiazepines have an effect on those receptors, making us slow down, feel calmer, and eventually, feel depressed.

That's why there are so many confusing links between alcohol medication and anti-depressants.

Those same receptors play a role in how we perceive nerve pain, making it all even more complicated.

What makes alcohol so difficult to "cure" is that it also releases dopamine, so we *think* we feel good, while what we are really doing is making ourselves depressed. And if we have neuropathy, as long as we are drinking (enough) we don't feel that pain (same brain receptors) so much, but when we stop, we feel the full brunt of the damage (depending on type of PN).

True story: in rehab we had to do some art projects as well (quite fun, actually). I was making a drawing about GABA receptors, and the course leader hinted that "I may be overthinking it all a little bit". Ho hum, she probably had a point.

But if it interests you, this is a decent article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddi...to-your-brain/