He Says He Needs Space, But I Don't Know Why?

My boyfriend recently said that he needed space from me, however he was going to just ignore me and assume I would understand by the fact he wasn't responding. I understand needing space for personal reasons, but I feel like he's taking this too far. He's started refusing to talk to my friends when they're talking to him and they say my name, completely shoving me away by continuing to like my posts on Instagram. I don't think he sees how much what he is doing is hurting me and I'm afraid that the person I've promised my life to is getting tired of me. Is he trying to 'ease' his way into breaking up with me or is he just really needing space and handling it a bit wrong?