ATLANTA (AP) - Housewives, gay men, corporate executives - none are immune from the growing addiction to online sex and a compulsion for ``hypersexuality'' that threatens to destroy relationships, psychologists say.

``The Internet is revolutionizing sexuality,'' said Al Cooper, clinical director of a sexuality clinic in San Jose, Calif. He told psychologists that cybersex is changing the definition of sexual compulsion ``like crack cocaine changed the field of substance abuse.''

The Internet's anonymous and instant gratification is surprisingly appealing to women, who prefer the interaction in sex chat rooms to leering at pornographic pictures, speakers said Friday at a National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity conference on cybersex.

Research shows that an estimated 15 percent of Internet users have visited online sex chat rooms or pornographic sites. A study presented at the conference found that almost 9 percent of people who use the Internet for sex spend more than 11 hours per week surfing for erotic content.

The numbers were nearly equal for men and women, countering the widely accepted view that an overwhelming majority of cybersex participants are men.

That may be because women feel they can safely use the Internet to satisfy curiosity and express themselves sexually, Cooper said.

``Women still have to be afraid of violence, sexually transmitted diseases and people's attitudes,'' he said. ``Whatever you want, whatever kind of sexual charge you're into, you can find it on the Internet.''

But the Internet's anonymity coupled with the wide range of fetish and fantasy sites available online creates ``hypersexuality'' - a compulsive need for cybersex that can choke the life out of marriages and partnerships.

``The pain that this can tear through a relationship is deep, and it's profound,'' said Kimberly Young, a psychologist at the Sierra Tuscon clinic in Arizona. ``And relapse is really just a click away.''

The lure of cybersex, speakers at the conference said, is its anonymity. Shy women, closeted gay men and image-conscious corporate executives believe acting out fantasies online is safe.

Almost half the women in Cooper's study said chat rooms - online person-to-person discussions - were their favorite forum for cybersex, compared to just 23 percent who said they preferred pictures. The numbers were almost exactly reversed for men.

``Women are more auditory. They like to have conversation and talk,'' said Robert Freeman-Longo, a Vermont psychologist specializing in sexual abuse. ``Men will just get naked and do it.''

The danger to relationships comes because partners often think of cybersex as within the rules - more morally acceptable than acting out fantasies in real life or renting pornographic videotapes, much less having sex outside the relationship.

That builds a wall of secrecy between partners, Cooper said. Partners may lie to each other about which sites they visit or even wait until the middle of the night to surf for sex.

For gay men who are hesitant to date openly or too young to be sure of their sexuality, the Internet provides an outlet for sexual exploration, said psychologist Ron Burg, who worked with Cooper on the study.

But that desire often drives homosexuals to cybersex compulsion, he said. More than 16 percent of people labeled addicted to cybersex were gay or lesbian, while homosexuals made up just 7 percent of the study sample.

``They're repressed all their lives,'' Cooper said. ``When they get to the Internet - boom! - it's like an explosion.''

Speakers at the conference said cybersex addiction should be treated seriously and requires therapy - the same as eating or personality disorders.

They recommended telling patients to delete their Internet bookmarks and schedule limited appointments to go online.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.