I had it done 4 times in a week when I was in the ward and psychotic.
I had this. Didn’t do anything. 
“cognitive side effects in 26.2%”
This is what I would worry about. 
There was this guy in a mental hospital with me, and he underwent ECT. It did wonders for his personality. He became much more outgoing, and his mood was usually cheerful. But I wonder about the cognitive effects it had on him. He was going to write a book about his experiences, and when I read the book it was barely coherent. I think he had been very coherent before he got ECT, but now he seemed a lot more intellectually fuzzy to me.
We had a member here that said they affected her negatively cognitively. I cant remember her name atm. We also had, of course, @Pandy , who I believe had them and then suddenly stopped coming around. I suppose you could interpret that in either positive or negative ways.
The “this product is safe and effective” stuff reminds me of some of the commercials you see on tv.
You will see a commercial for like a drug for treating constipation and the side 3 minute long list of potential side effects is something like this :
“May cause diarhea, rectal bleeding, brain hemmorages, Leprosy, the black plaque, HIV Infection, your eyes to pop out of your sockets, or death.”
This guy was depressed enough that they needed to try something strong. He’d made an attempt at suicide before he got ECT. He probably recovered most of his intellect in time, and he was so depressed before he got it that ECT was warranted.
ECT was very effective for me when I’d get to the point where I refused all food and drink, and it would get me semi-functional enough to participate in the hospital milieu, but I think it has definitely affected my memory. I was still able to get a master’s degree years after having it but it had cognitive effects that were long lasting. I think it has contributed to the problems I have remembering things like names, stuff like that…
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