Costs are pretty high, thats all I know.

Here is some info about the process,

http://www.theuniversityhospital.com/ect/works.html

I am looking itno less expensive forms of electrifying the blood.

Pat

I have personally had ECT treatments on two separate occasions.  It was done only as a last resort, after trying nearly every antidepressant and mood stabilizer available without any noticeable positive results.

My first round of treatment was very helpful, and I can honestly say it saved me in a time when my despair was worse than it had ever been before or has been since.  But over time, after about a year, the effects seemed to 'wear off,' and my depression rapidly began to approach the levels it had been originally (but not quite to the point I'd been at when I had the original treatment).  I went for a second series of treatments, but the second time it didn't seem to make much of a difference at all.

It's important to realize, though, that this is just my experience, which doesn't mean it isn't helpful for a lot of other people.  There's a reason that ECT is still done in hospitals across the country - I doubt such an involved procedure would still be offered if no one ever experienced lasting results.  And even I can say that it made a BIG difference for me, if only for a time.

One side effect I should mention is that it is known to cause memory loss, but it only seemed to affect my memories of the few weeks surrounding my treatments.  As long as you avoid making any sort of important plans or commitments during this brief time period (which seems like the sensible thing to do, anyway), this memory loss shouldn't have any sort of serious impact on your day-to-day life.