I don’t have an addiction to pornography; it is the official line of my party. At least that was until I visited this highly recommended site. If you are a pornographic like me, I challenge you too to take this “test.”

If you are a pornographic like me, I challenge you too to take this “test.” Dr. Douglas made some very insightful points. One of them is the guilt factor associated with porn, which is quite true in my circumstances. Another good point he comes up with is the tendency for porn addicts (or any addict for that matter) to replace porn because of intimacy. However, I don’t always think it’s a bad thing to look at porn when you’re bored, or look at porn for a while to escape your personal troubles (and, no, I don’t think I’m wading down Africa’s famous rivers on this one); as long as you recognize the activity as a short interlude or break in the continuous saga that is your life (like catching a quick movie at the theater), and as long as you don’t delay your issues indefinitely.

Is pornography addictive?

In my case, I partook of pornography because I was going for other entertainment such as baseball, picnics, or watching TV. Valid despite the point, I feel at times that its expansion to one point doesn’t make sense. For example, his 13th question asks if there are other forces that compel you to watch porn. But to illustrate the point, he asked the reader if he (the reader) really aspired to be a better individual but was hampered in that endeavor by pornography. What forces, whether internal or external, did the doctor offend?

Likewise, he demands whether readers ever discard old collections of pornography only to replace collections with new ones (question 9). Good question. Then, however, she kind of goes on a tangent and asks if the test-taker has ever viewed pornography or masturbated while in an altered, substance-induced, mental state. Yes?

Sometimes, the points repeat.

The emotional disconnection between addicts and loved ones is mentioned more than twice. Mind you, there is no point individually wrong speaking. I just think that every so often he takes the wrong step on his logical path, and ends up on a test trip.

So I took the test with the same mindset I always had when I, ahem, got into porn: I can quit anytime I choose. But a small part of my soul constantly thinks that I might be lying to myself, and this is the reason. There are times when I tell myself I won’t be looking at porn for a set period. But, that would only make me want to see naked women more (is that addictive? I asked myself). These are times when I give myself free reign to view all the porn that I so desperately want, that porn doesn’t quite hold the same level of excitement for me. On the one hand, I think we, as humans, often desire what we cannot have or what is forbidden. On the contrary, it could be as Dr. Doug: You can be desensitized to the average porn and may need more extreme pornographic material to achieve the same worldly elation. After completing the “test,” I came to the conclusion that I was not a porn addict, per se.

And yes, I did weigh several factors such as 1) my increased desire for porn when it wasn’t available; 2) my tendency to see porn when I have nothing better to do; and 3) the guilt that sometimes sets in after seeing a long “session”. I realized that I only had an excessive sense of self effacement because of my strong Christian education. And just as some people look at oil paintings and others stare at the setting sun, I enjoy seeing naked women; It’s soothing. Women’s bodies are truly the most beautiful thing that Allah placed on this earth. If it labels me a visual (pornography) addict, so be it. I was called far worse. On the other hand, maybe it’s time for me to get off this Egyptian cruise ship.