I have never had ECT but I intern at a psych. hospital and a lot of my patients on the mood disorders unit were receiving it. A lot of them reported that it was the only thing that had ever helped their depression (most of them reported that relief would come after about 6 treatments). My patients reported minor short term memory loss, headache, and just feeling "out of it" after the treatment.

I have also observed ECT treatments. The patients are put out for a little while with anesthesia. It is very quick-- they sleep for a bit afterwards and then go home. When I was observing, by the time I was watching the 2nd patient get his treatment, the 1st patient had already gotten up to leave.

I have never heard of any long-term effects that are directly related to ECT treatments. I think it is a very effective and safe solution to treatment-resistant depression.