First, I want to clarify something. Academic studies have put ECT efficacy at 80-85%, not the 50-60% stated by RR.

Now, @FluffyDinosaur, I have done both TMS and ECT. I'm still doing ECT, in fact, every four weeks. So, let's look at my experience:

Sometime between 2010 and 2015 I tried TMS. I would go three times a week for what seems like four or five weeks. After that I continued for longer intervals. I think the only result I got from it was the placebo effect.

Shortly after ending TMS I started ECT in early March of 2015. The standard approach to ECT treatment begins with three sessions per week (MWF) for three or four weeks, depending on patient response. This intensive schedule is the reason inpatient is usually recommended. Some patients stop there. Others continue on with maintenance on a tapering schedule, two sessions a week for a couple of weeks, then once a week for a couple/few weeks, then every other week for a month or so, until you're at every four weeks. Some docs will go to a longer interval, mine does not.

Types of ECT: there are three methods of administering ECT. Bilateral places electrodes at each temple. Unilateral places one electrode at the right temple and the other electrode in the centre of the crown of the head. Bifrontal places the electrodes over the eyebrows.

Unilateral gets academic/professional support in the literature for causing less amnesia than bilateral placement, but I've also read anecdotal reports from patients saying the opposite is true of their experience. Bifrontal seems to still be quite rarely used. Unless the doc had a lot of history with bifrontal I would shy away from it. I'm not an early adopter, either.

Amnesia: ECT can cause both retrograde and anterograde amnesia. That means you may lose memories before the procedure and may have difficulty forming memories after the procedure. The professional literature and anecdotal evidence I've read indicates most patients recover the majority of preceding memories. For the few who experience anterograde amnesia, it apparently goes away within a few weeks.

My amnesiac experience: I cannot recollect much of my autobiographical history, but that can also be caused by a depressed brain or, on the other hand, a manic brain. I cannot speak to the anterograde amnesia dissipating because my maintenance treatments prevent that happening.

In the end, I consider it all a small price to pay for the benefits I have gained. Most importantly, I engage with my friends and family now. Of course, you walk a different path and must choose for yourself how you will go.

If I've left out anything you still want to know about, feel free to ask.