ECONOMIC decline in Ireland has led to a significant rise in the level of people being treated for sex addiction as the population finds ways of coping with stress.

Clinical practitioners have also claimed that the apparent surge in addictive behaviour is only beginning to show itself and that the problem will be more prevalent in the coming years. Colin O'Driscoll, director of the private Forest treatment centre in Wicklow, believes that increasing pressures of life in the grip of recession has led to the increase.

"I think there is a lead-in time so I don't think we are seeing the level of sex addictions that are going to reveal themselves. I think we will see more over the years.

"There are a few reasons; firstly (online porn) industries are marketing themselves very skillfully. The internet is very new and 20 years ago this would have been an issue we wouldn't be discussing," he said.

"You could almost call it aggressive marketing strategies. With internet porn there are loads of pop-up ads and unsolicited emails come into your account."

There have also been marked increases in numbers seeking help with more conventionally accepted compulsions like gambling, eating and alcohol, all of which, insists O'Driscoll, are bolstered by creative marketing tactics.

Forest Healthcare, which is in its sixth year, practices a "motivational interviewing" approach to therapy which sets it apart from other forms of addiction counselling. Treatment at the centre, which has recently received its ISO certification from the CHKS Accreditation Awards Panel, costs €16,400 a year; somewhat lower than UK-based private clinics.

It has claimed staggering success, including nearly two thirds of patients succeeding in their "change plan" and 70% of those seeking abstinence from addictions achieving it.