Story By: Kathryn Quinn, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News 

Shopaholics can now attend an eight-week course that includes singing and martial arts lessons to help them combat their addiction to ‘retail therapy’.

Shopping addicts can sign up for the eight-week rehabilitation boot camp at the Krankenhaus de La Tour clinic located in the south-central Austrian town of Treffen.

The clinic’s chief psychologist Bettina Quantschnig said: “The main symptom is buying things which you really don’t need. If shopping addicts don’t follow their instincts, they become unsettled and irritable. Shopaholics are trying to fill a void.”

According to reports, addicts often buy items and never even take the labels off while clothing articles are put into the wardrobe only to never be seen again.

Many sufferers continue buying products even when their bank accounts are in the red.

The new course includes lectures, singing lessons and sports activities such as Taekwondo as well as group and one-on-one sessions.

The clinic said that most clients are female, but they are seeing an increasing number of men who are affected by online shopping.

The clinic specialises in a wide range of addictions and relevant treatments, including gambling, smoking, alcohol and drug problems.

Some therapies consist of an eight-week treatment programme at the clinic with a two-year follow-up programme.

One clinic doctor told local media: “People who take part in the eight-week programme have a 45 percent chance of staying off the addiction.

“If they continue the therapy for a further two years, they have a 62 percent change of abstaining for over five years.”

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