Healthy solitude and compulsive distancing are different things, though the person doing the distancing may confuse the two. Needing space is a response to a genuine internal state that resolves once the space is obtained. Pushing people away is a defense against vulnerability that activates regardless of actual need. The person who needs space returns refreshed. The person who pushes people away feels momentary relief followed by the same loneliness that was there before, because the distancing was never about recharging. It was about avoiding the emotional cost of closeness.
For adults in Boca Raton, Florida who are uncertain whether their withdrawal is healthy preference or protective pattern, Dr. David Steinbok's psychodynamic therapy provides the framework to examine the distinction. Understanding the difference is often one of the first productive steps in treatment.
