I went through ECT treatments on two different occasions. 9 the first round, and then a few years later a set of 8. I insisted on unilateral rather than bilateral, and my pdoc was very careful to respect my requests and help me experience as little memory loss as possible. Both times I lost memory, short-term, surrounding the time of treatment, but I experienced no long-term memory loss or cognitive issues. I returned to work quickly with no problems. ECT pulled me out of depressions that were not responding to medication, allowing me to get back home to my family rather than ending up in the hospital for an extended period of time. ECT saved my life; that is not hyperbole.

My husband had ECT. His was bilateral and he had to undergo more treatments than I did before he finally started finding relief. He was much more disoriented during the treatment period than I was, and I do think he has had some long-term issues with short-term memory since ECT. He has other serious health issues that may have compounded his response. It's hard to know. But ECT did help him with his depression, and he also was able to return to work with no problems. His memory issues may or may not be ECT-related; it's hard to tell what is what with him. But the memory issues are something that has not affected his ability to work.