Experts believe that men visit prostitutes for numerous reasons. Firstly, it's never been easier to find and contact sex workers due to the internet and legal brothels opening up every year. Secondly, a growing number of men are often in a stable relationship, but will still visit prostitutes to perhaps play out fantasies or domination that they can't get at home.

Single men may visit prostitutes because they may see it easier than playing the dating game. Men can pay for sex in a straight forward transaction, and they get what they want. There are also no emotional strings attached.

Having sex with prostitutes can be a thrilling and illicit experience for a man, which gives them a sense of power and control. Some experts argue that for certain men, the act of visiting a prostitute has become an extension of the high-adrenaline lifestyle commonplace today. For other men, the "cheapness" of the whole act is a turn-on for them.

If a man is in a relationship with someone and visits prostitutes, is it seen as cheating? Can a man declare that he didn't cheat because he has no emotional connection to the girl? Or is having sex with another person at any time cheating, whether there is an emotion connection or not?

Currently, Sex Addiction isn't recognised by any official diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association's 'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders (DSM). But since Tiger Woods was publicly shamed by his self admitted 'Sex Addiction', this new disorder has been headlines around the world. Typically, sexual addiction refers to an individual who is unable to manage their sexual behaviour. Skeptics believe that it is a myth that the phenomenon actually exists, but is simply an repetitive action carried out due to cultural and other influences.

Could Sex Addiction be the new "excuse" for having an affair behind your partner's back after they are caught out? Does this new term give cheating partners an opportunity to justify their behaviour because it's "not their fault"? A chronic adulterer who gets caught might hide behind the term.

Anything to do with sex is controversial. Everyone has an opinion of where the boundaries lie between what is normal and what isn't. With the increase in sexual provocation within our society, it has spawned an increase in individuals engaging in unusual or illicit sexual practices such as using phone sex services, prostitutes and internet pornography.

Either way, if a partner has what they term a 'Sexual Addiction', their obsession with meeting their sexual needs is extremely damaging to their partnership when it is searched for outside of their relationship.

Sunday Mail(4th October):

An article looks at whether a relationship can survive if one partner has an affair. The writer states that a couple can survive betrayal if both parties are willing to work on themselves and their relationship.

The writer further states that the person who committed the infidelity must be honest about their actions. They must communicate and acknowledge that they have done wrong, and accept responsibility for this.

Then the writer explains that both partners need to set clear expectations for moving ahead, knowing that it will be different from before the infidelity occurred. Trust also needs to be earned again. If you choose to stay committed to each other, then you need forgive. Surviving infidelity can actually strengthen your relationship and take it to a new level.

I put to you, the reader, can you truly survive infidelity? Even if you did forgive, do you really ever forget? Does caution sit at the back of your consciousness, just waiting for a suspicious action?

A once fractured relationship is now fragile and takes a lot less to shatter.

Is there really true happiness and contentment after infidelity?

Weekend Courier Mail (5-6 September):

An article discusses the demise of NSW Minister John Della Bosca because he had an affair.

No one is immune from this disease called 'infidelity'. It affects people from all walks of life. Mr & Mrs Smith down the suburban street, the high flying corporates, the celebrities and politicians. If it's so prevalent, why does it happen & no-one understand why? Mr Della Bosca obviously just wanted a 'bit on the side', but this can become dangerous if the other participating party wants more - as was the case in this instance.

Affairs are not just black and white. There are always grey areas. Every circumstance has two sides and unless you know both sides of the story, no-one can throw arrows. When people have affairs, are they just simply lacking something at home? Sexual intimacy, emotional connection or just time together? Is it the thrill of bedding someone without getting caught? Is it the fact that you are getting a little bit older, and still need to feel valued and appreciated in a sexual way?

If you feel any of the above, and don't feel that you are receiving it at home, is there a safe and fair way to gain these feelings without hurting anyone?

In October's issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine, it raises some very interesting issues. What exactly constitutes infidelity? It's fascinating to see what actions people perceive are a 'maybe' and what actions are strictly a 'yes' or 'no'.

I'll look at a couple of the topics:

Firstly, the strip club. The verdict was 'maybe' this is considered infidelity if someone's partner visited a strip club. It goes on to say that if it was a once off and he was honest about it, then no it's not infidelity. But if it was a regular occurrence and he was not being honest about it, then yes it was infidelity.

Men visit strip clubs and get lap dances for a variety of reasons. Some are for the typical bucks night, or wild boys out. Most of these times, the guys are so drunk, that they don't even really know where they are or what they doing. It's all a blur and they feed off each others confidence and enthusiasm.

But the men who visit strip clubs regularly, are there for totally different reasons. From my experience, they are either 'lacking' sexual intimacy at home, feel the need to have some sort of 'power' over women because in their regular day-to-day life a woman or women seem to overpower him, or it's just a plain sexual perversion.

If you find your partner is visiting strip clubs, you need to look at the possible reasons why he is doing this and discuss it with him. Confronting him outright with it will probably just inflame the situation. Professional help is certainly recommended in this instance.

Secondly, flirty emails and texts. The verdict was 'yes' this is considered infidelity. It states that about 43% of Australians admit to using email to flirt. Now this is a very interesting area of infidelity. It's considered a 'safe' way to 'have an affair'. This type of affair is not physical - it's emotionally driven. It's like when people get onto chat rooms and can pick their own identity and safely type away. They can be very honest and provocative with their thoughts safe in the knowledge that it 'isn't real'. With emailing and texting, because they can't see the other person, people can become a lot more courageous with their words. How many times have you emailed or text something, hit send, then thought 'oh shit'.....

But it's addictive and this is far becoming the most popular way of having an 'affair'.