Googling my name became an obsession, every hour of every day – I needed help | Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

As a new author, it was a thrill to read what people were saying about me. Then I found out that I wasn't alone. The habit just had to go

Looking at my computer screen, I blinked in disbelief. I had just typed my name into Google and was flabbergasted to see page after page of results about me. It was April 2009 and I was a new author in Nigeria. My first book was just about to be released and I had been completely unaware of just how much pre-publication buzz the international publishing scene generates. A year earlier, Googling my name had presented just four results - mostly related to my old school's alumni website. Now there were 600 and I devoured every one of them; reviews, blogs and comments. But my fascination quickly spiralled into something much darker as I become addicted to searching my name on Google every hour of every day.

The signs of my addiction were subtler than those of an alcoholic or drug addict, yet they disrupted my life just the same. Mobile internet and smartphones were uncommon luxuries in Nigeria at the time, with only 9% of the 156 million population having internet access. My habit of searching for my name online was confined to when I was working in the office, or at home tethered to an unreliable external modem. If I was out with friends, I would ask to borrow their laptop or phone. I would excuse myself from gatherings, shutting myself away in the corner of a friend's room to be close to the internet modem.

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is a Nigerian novelist and journalist. She is the author of I Do Not Come to You by Chance and Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree

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