It has been several days since my last post, and since my decision that enough was enough.
This seemed to jolt my OH into seeing some sort of perspective and he asked me to take him to the doctors. He acknowledged he needs help. He shouldered all the blame. He asked the doctor for help.
He is now on medication to alleviate the withdrawal syptoms and hasn't had a drink since. I went in to see the doctor before OH and asked him not to pussyfoot around OH. The doctor, bless him, was amazing, unlike the last one who basically patted him on the head with a 'there, there' and gave OH justification as to why he was drinking.
The meds are for short term use only, but will hopefully get us through Christmas and New Year. At least now OH is sober, and without withdrawal symptoms he does see reason and can comprehend the impact and potential outcome of his drinking.
Regarding the assessor and her comments - I now don't think she has done anything wrong. In speaking about the appointment in more depth, it appears that OH's interpretation of things that were said was skewed to say the least. He was twisting her words in his mind to justify continuing to drink. While he was sober when he went to the meeting, his mind was, and still is to a degree, rather mashed.
So, we will see. He knows and understands the consequences of him returning to drink, for his health, our relationship and his future. He does struggle, we have just got back from the supermarket and he said the temptation to pick up some cans when he walked down the alcohol aisle was difficult to resist. But he did resist 🙂 Baby steps.