I'm not hearing where this man has a whole lot of warmth in his heart toward you. It may be that he is soured on women in general, rather than you in particular. Something about his attitude sounds troubling. I don't know whether or nor he's "controlling," but that's not the only way in which a man can be a very unsatisfactory partner. It sounds to me like he's not that nice of a guy.

If you're with him mainly because that seems better than having nobody, then allow yourself to realize that. But try not to elevate to the status of "love affair" a relationship that simply may not merit being called love. I'm not hearing where this guy is in love with you. He may not be a very loving guy. You may be "needy," but there's nothing overly needy about wanting to be loved. To commit yourself exclusively to a man who seems to offer so little strikes me as unfortunate. I would rather see you keeping yourself open to meeting other men, and just regard this man as someone you casually date and find some measure of companionship with.

I am seeing thread after thread where a person is basically being rejected, but prefers to see it as the other party "looking for space." If a guy is frequently communicating, "I don't want you with me." that's not "looking for space." That's a guy who is not in love with you. And, like I said, this may not reflect on your worthiness so much as on him just not being a loving man. He sounds very cold to me.

If you feel starved for acceptance and affection from this man, then that's a perfectly good reason to decide to move on.