boundaries of intimacy

Typical of schizoid patients, this man had a lifelong pattern of detachment from people, few friends and limited emotional expressiveness. His well-meaning parents always encouraged him to make friends and, later on, to date, even though he was basically uninterested in social activities.

“We thought he was just shy but had lots of feeling inside,” his father told me.....

His therapist apparently believed that no one could genuinely prefer solitude and that there must be a psychological block preventing this patient from seeking intimacy....

Emotional intimacy, it seems, is not for everyone.

I guess in a world mediated by good standards (market, money) some people can specialize their intimacy away and others can just opt not to trade in intimacy at all.