The first and only time I went to a meeting of Sex Addicts Anonymous, this chap stood up and gave a blow-by-blow account of his sexual history. He had started life as a heterosexual, he said, and became hopelessly addicted to pornography and prostitutes. Then he decided to give gay sex a try and soon became addicted to encounters with multiple partners in public parks. I forget how many times he said he was having it off every day, but it was heroic. He was out there day and night in all seasons and in all weathers and would go without lunch and dinner. In winter, he said, he was sometimes covered in snow. Then he caught pneumonia, then HIV. HIV became full-blown Aids. Finally, he decided enough was enough. And now here he was, relating his salutary tale in a church hall over tea and inexpensive biscuits.
The point he was making was that he now realised that his behaviour had been reckless, and that it was reckless because he was subject to a raging psychological addiction.
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