Is there a single point in time to which I can point and say: this is when I became a pornography addict? Or was I simply born this way; doomed right from the start?

I guess it depends on how far you stretch the definition of addiction. I don’t believe I became obsessed with pornography until my early teens, but there were plenty of signs before then that suggested, at the very least, I had an unhealthy interest in sexual imagery, both in my developing personality traits and in my actions.

I don’t remember this but my mother tells me that, when I was a very small boy, she took to hiding her travel brochures because she’d find me browsing through the pages looking for pictures of topless sunbathers. I was three years old.

My earliest experiences in this area that I can actually remember are from the age of about nine or ten. I recall

Learning how addiction really works was a revelation that became a fascination. It never previously occurred to me that an alcoholic’s experience could have anything in common with my experience as a pornography addict. It turns out that all varieties of addiction carry certain symptoms that are experienced by virtually all addicts.

• Emotional hypersensitivity.
• Simple or minor problems often become overwhelming.
• A feeling of ease and comfort while using.
• Intense remorse after using followed by a renewed resolve never to use again.
• Deceptive behaviour.
• Rampant guilt.
• A self-deceptive view of what constitutes a lapse.

One of the effects I’ve personally experienced from studying addiction behaviour is