system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:Why can an alcoholic die from withdrawals if they quit cold turkey?
gpt
Alcohol affects various neurotransmitters, the chemicals that your neurons use to communicate with each other.  In serious alcoholics, some neurotransmitters are under produced, because the alcohol makes up the difference.  But if you quit cold turkey, the body can't quickly respond to make more of that neurotransmitter, so the neurons don't fire correctly.  This leads to seizures and sometimes death. 

In short, if you're dependent upon alcohol and you quit immediately, your brain won't function right.