I worked in a psych unit and ECT was done fairly regularly. It is not as depicted in the movies. We had patients that would have to come back for repeat procedures. It is used a lot more than people realize. It is a very effective treatment and I never heard of anyone losing all their memory. I guess that's a possibility but I never heard of it happening. If I needed one of the two treatments, I'd take the ECT since I've seen it work. I would ask what is the percentage of patients that experience total memory loss...I would guess it's low, though I understand even a minor chance is frightening. Still, it sounds like the degree of depression warrants the slight risk.
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