i think timely treatment with haldol can in fact significantly reduce or even entirely prevent the excitotoxic brain damage from alcohol withdrawal, but i'm not certain of that
Haloperidol is sort-of useful for it's anti-serotonin properties [0]. The Soviets used this drug to induce agony in political dissidents.
The physiology of psychosis is now fully described, so there's no need to use haloperidol as a palliative 'anti-psychotic' anymore.
Someone responded to my comment yesterday [0] to mention pimavanserin, an antipsychotic that works as an anti-serotonin drug (rather than an anti-dopamine drug).
Carbohydrates and protein provide 4 calories/gram, fats provide 9 calories/gram. Alcohol provides 7 calories/gram. Alcoholics train their nervous system to run on acetate, one of the breakdown products of ethanol: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14085230
Rather than tranquilizing patients with haldol, how can the withdrawal patient's nervous system be fed?
A social worker I knew said one way to help with alcohol withdrawal is to provide a lot of sugar. The potassium in orange juice allows the body to use the sugar without having to release insulin. Other juices have less potassium, but would also be good.
I'm aware of some other gentle interventions too. Anything's better than inducing agony with haloperidol.
when i've seen people on haldol they haven't been in anything approaching agony; rather the contrary, it induces apathy, which tends to take away agony and anxiety
(of course, as i said above, psychiatric drugs can have a lot of surprising effects)
i'm skeptical of the metabolic claims in your comment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens#Treatment