My Drs. are suggesting ECT also, so I've looked into it somewhat. It is very effective - 80%, I believe, which is really high for depression. The number of sessions needed varies a lot among individuals and so side effects vary also. From what I gathered, many experience some short-term memory loss, but for most, it is temporary and/or insignificant. There is, however, some small percentage who never totally recover memory. ECT is typically recommended after everything else has been tried. They still do not know WHY it works; they think it resets the brain somehow. It is physically very safe and is not at all like what we see in the movies or hear in horror stories. Be careful because a lot of personal web postings are stories. I encourage you to check out professional sites online. Personally, I am scared to death of the possible memory loss as my occupation heavily relies on cognitive functioning, and mine is already impaired. Hope this was at least of some help. Best of luck and keep posting.