Originally Posted by
EventHorizons 
So I get having the brain fog for a couple of days or maybe even weeks... but I seems like it just goes on and on. I don't (reasonably) miss alcohol at all. Perhaps a smidgen romantically, but this was necessary.
Having said that, with some confidence I could guarantee that with about 2-3 drinks my mind would be sharp as a tack. My self control would begin to plummet, my rational decision making would plummet, my bad uninhibited behaviors would quickly return, but I could find every word in my head, most stored memories, names, dates, and places.
For the life of me, I can't understand this. If our brain is genuinely deficient in something, it wouldn't magically become sufficient from the alcohol. So does something not get made in withdrawal, that gets re-released when drinking. Are there neurotransmitters that get released along with the endorphins and serotonin and whatever else. I'm not a biochemist or neurologist so I have no idea what these are, but it seems to me alcohol either is a key that unlocks something (after it destroyed the old lock mechanism) or maybe it destroyed the level detector or something.
Anyway, I'm with the OP and many others, in terms of frustration with this aspect.
Stupid alcohol...
EH
I 100% hear you on this EH and have been wondering the same thing.
I think that Alcohol being a depressant lowers our brainwave frequency. If like me you are often anxious, stressed, thinking a lot, can't switch off, having a few drinks will take you from a high beta level down to lower beta/alpha brainwave levels which are more conducive to focused concentrative thought.
Our conscious mind can also only handle maximum 5-6 thoughts at one time before it gets confused and implodes, so I believe drinking helps minimise multiple thoughts allowing a more effective conduit between the subconscious/creative/memory-storing side of our brain to the conscious part responsible for our awareness and actions etc. hence why after a few drinks some of us find it easier to recall, retain and communicate.
But the problem is that the more we drink the more the conscious mind switches off and after enough we hit that autopilot zone where we don't know what we are consciously doing, and eventually blackout at that critical point.