A man who became addicted to pornography aged just 8 has spoken out about his ordeal and the years that he has spent recovering.
Wichita, USA, native Jamike 'J.K.' Emezi was spending £80 each day on live camera porn sites but is recovering from addiction and is the CEO of two companies - Elevated Recovery and Porn ReBoot - that help people in similar situations.
His addiction began when he was 8-years-old, and he discovered a pornographic comic. He stumbled across them and began to read them as he thought they were similar to his own adventure comic books.
By age 14, he says that he was a "full blown porn addict" and was suffering at school because of his pre-occupation with pornography. He was isolated and anxious at school, all of which affected his grades.
Advert
At 17-years-old he developed PIED - Porn Induced Erectile Dysfunction - which left him unable to masturbate or orgasm without using porn. He was also unable to develop relationships in real life as he was only interested in woman like the ones he saw in pornography.
At age 22, he reached the peak of his addiction and was spending £79 ($100) on live camera sessions. He was attacked when trying to meet someone for no strings attached sex, but then realised that he had a problem and began trying to get free from it.
Thanks to therapy, meditation, and making significant life changes, he has now been free from porn for 11 years.
J.K. explained: "I was eight-years-old when I peeked under the bed of my nanny. I loved comic books and earlier in the day, while I was watching cartoons, I had seen her reading what I thought was a comic book. Later, I asked to read the comic book too and she said it was 'not for me'," said J.K.
"I promptly waited for her to leave the house, then sneaked into her room in my quest to find this comic book which I presumed would be filled with adventures to spark my imaginative mind.
"My young mind was never the same after that. By the age of 14, I was a full-blown porn addict. I kept chasing and trying to replicate this 'adrenaline' high by looking for images of naked people where ever I could.
"At the age of 14, I learned how to masturbate. Once I discovered that I could do much more with sexual images and that many more pleasurable chemicals were released when I experienced orgasm, I was hooked.
"The three biggest impacts these had on my life were shame, social anxiety and low self-esteem. Each of these stunted my development as a healthy adolescent.
"Finally, at the age of 17 I developed what is now known as PIED where I could only masturbate and orgasm to pornography."
He continued: "Porn definitely had a negative impact on my relationship with women. I developed social anxiety in my teens and I can only remember one instance where I spoke to a woman in a non-platonic way up until I was 21 years old
"I would borrow money from my mother, open multiple credit cards and I eventually even spent a good portion of a student loan on my live cam habit.
"Late one evening, when I was drinking and binging on cam sites, I decided to search for anonymous sex online. I had done this in the past during porn sessions, but this time I was determined to have sex.
"I ended up responding to an ad which stated that 'she' was a babysitter and the parents who had entrusted her with their kids wouldn't be back for a few hours. She was looking for men who wanted to get blowjobs and perhaps sex at the back yard of the house.
"I sent her a picture of a penis, which was actually a random penis I downloaded off the internet, and she invited me over.
"Unfortunately, it turned out not to be what I thought it was. While parked behind this house desperately texting this person, someone smashed the driver's side window of my car. Startled, I instinctively pressed down on the accelerator and drove through someone's yard to another street.
"I remember driving home, shattered glass all over me, hand shaking and adrenaline pumping through me thinking how stupid I was and how I could have been killed. I came home, cleared my browsing history and deleted every last bit of porn on my computer."
Advert
Now, 11 years later, he still finds it difficult, but he his life back in his own control.
He added: "Anyone who finds themselves in a position where their porn use is out of control should seek professional help.
"A trained professional can provide you with the guidance you need, prepare you for withdrawal symptoms and help you plan a life where healthy habits replace porn.
Advert
"Accept the fact that you have a problem and speak to
someone about it. Moving out of the darkness of secrecy and into the light of
accountability destroys your shame and sets you down the path of recovery."
Topics: News, Interesting, Sex, Weird