I've been on both sides of this fence, my BF suffers from severe depressive episodes and I suffer from BP. Well I prefer to think of it as I am managing BP.

My BF didn't communicate his needs very well for quite a long time, would just disappear off the radar and suffer in silence.

He didn't feel comfortable sharing his struggles with me, which lead to extremely crazy-making feelings in me.

Finally he grasped the fact that it's better to warn me of pending radio silence...

This way I knew he was struggling, the relationship wasn't in question, and just sent him texts or GIFS to let him know I was thinking about him, without the expectation of a convo.

Myself, I give him and my friends the same courtesy, I tell them when I need a break from people or the world in general, and nobody has given me flack for it. They actually appreciate my candor, and let me know that they'll be there when I'm ready to emerge from my cocoon.

It's one thing to understand the textbook of MI, it's an entirely different thing experiencing it and living with it or alongside it.

The reason I say this is, don't allow our field of studies to fool you into thinking you know what's going on in his head, the reality is, you don't. Because look what it's done, you think you understand his disorder, so there must be a problem with your relationship if he needs space, he must need a viable reason to ask for such a thing...

Him needing space is not a reflection of you or your relationship, just because being close to you helped him in the past, does not mean it will help this time around, our needs morph just as our episodes and symptoms do.

It's a damn good thing to know what you need and when, especially if you have no professionals involved. I went 3 years without any professional intervention and I researched the shyt out of ways to cope and manage without losing my mind.

So I wouldn't necessarily write him off on that basis alone, everything is not black and white.

If you are not prepared to stick by him, and yes this may mean doing it from a slight distance at times, then you might want to rethink staying with him.