Addicted At 12: How Porn Almost Ruined His Life

Porn has always been around; researchers believe they've found explicit material dating back to the Stone Age.

In the past, however, it took effort to access porn -- whether it was explicit artwork, a private magazine subscription, an X-rated television channel or a store that sold sex-related paraphernalia.

That has all changed. We can get pornography, in all of its extremes, for free at any time of day with a few taps of a finger. And as kids are given phones and other devices with web browsers at earlier ages, they, too, are encountering explicit content -- possibly before they've even learned about sex or are aware of what porn is.

That is what Alexander Rhodes says happened to him. The tech entrepreneur, whom I interviewed for my CNN series "This Is Life," says he became addicted to online porn by the time he was age 12, and it changed the way he perceived sex and relationships well into adulthood.

While porn addiction isn't a medically recognized disease, Rhodes knows he isn't alone. He began a porn recovery site called NoFap to try to help others free themselves from compulsive porn use; he isn't a therapist, but in the process he's cultivated a community.

- Read More: cnn.com