Is it normal for him to be so back and forth?

I met this intelligent, sexy, fun guy through my job and we hit it off incredibly well. We were staying over at each other's places right away, meeting each other's friends, and family. Things seemed to be going well and we have this weird comfortable connection I've not found in anyone else.
He told me right away he's in a weird place in life as he just lost his well paying job and his on and off live-in girlfriend of 10 years had broken up with him a few months before. They moved apart and now he's temporarily living with his parents again (he just turned 28). He was drinking a lot and not being very responsible, and he gets to be an emotional drunk.
After weeks of dating and attention, sweet texts and deep conversation and fun nights out goofing off, he gets drunk and tells me that even though I'm amazing and if he had a check list of everything he wanted in a woman I'd fit perfectly - he just can't feel anything for me.
It hurts, but I can see where he's coming from. A week later, he comes over and says he fucked up and he's in a weird spot but he wants to sort himself out with me rather than without.
2weeks pass. He says he actually doesn't have feelings for me AGAIN. This time I'm irritated and tell him this is ridiculous, call me when he's sorted out. He calls the next morning and asks if I can just forget what he said.
We go out a couple nights later, he says he broke his phone, drove a half hour home, then straight up stoped talking to me completely after sending this 'sorry I pulled you into this, I'm a mess' message.
2 months pass and he contacts me out of the blue. He says he's been thinking about me a lot lately and that he really really messed up and wants to talk. So I go over to his place and he tells me he's down to drinking one night a week and is coming to terms with his life and he got a new job. He told me he misses me and it felt so comfortable falling back into each other's lives... but is this normal?
Do men jump back and forth like this all the time, and is it likely he's just going to put up a wall again in 2 more weeks? Does it sound likely that he's serious about being with me or am I being silly and dismissing logic in the face of romance?