I have had series of ECT off and on since 2003. I am medication resistant and I still have to take my meds but without the ECT's I would surely not be alive. They put you to sleep and the whole procedure only last a couple of minutes. When you wake up you don't really remember anything that happened and for me, I go home and sleep a couple of hours and when I get up I feel so much better. When I am doing well I do what my doctor calls maintenance treatments which is once a week or once every two weeks. When things turn bad I do two or three a week. They don't bother me and I consider them just a part of my treatment especially when feeling suicidal or just terribly sad. If you have any questions please just ask I know a good bit about ECT and would love to be helpful. Hugs.

@A MyDepressionTeam Member Melissa if you are barely functioning and your doctor says its a good option I think you should go for it. It is perfectly safe but it sounds very scarey. All I know is I was suicidal before the ECT and even after one treatment I didn't feel suicidal again. There are other people on the site that have done and *do* ECT currently. I will ask one of them to answer your question to. Since she is undergoing ECT now maybe her answers will be more helpful to you.

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A MyDepre...

If you go to the question page and put in ECT in the search bar you will get a lot of info about ect. I have had it and it saved my life. I did not have trouble with memory loss after it. It is recommended especially if prescriptions aren't working. If you have any questions please let me know I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have.

You guys/gals are an interesting collective of knowledge. I am glad to be amongst such a wealth of informative individuals. May I ask those who have had it, how long do the effects last, specifically the target symptoms like decreased suicide ideation or whatever else it has served to improve with my mdt family?

Good work team, nicely done.....