Does ECT work?

[sleepy21]

Has anybody tried ECT to help there depression and anxiety? Want to know how safe and effective it can be as i've tried medication and other therapys and only had a limited effect with these. Is this the last resort?!

[soshy]

I've never had it. I've heard it has been used as a "last resort" for treating very severe: depression, bipolar and psychotic disorders, but I'm not an expert on the subject.

I do know that is is not used for anxiety.

I found some links that may be helpful :

The American Psychiatric Association
http://www.psych.org/research/apire/training_fund/clin_res/index.cfm

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroconvulsive_therapy

[shoe]

Here's another decent link on ECT (from HealthyPlace):
http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Depression/treatment/ect/index.asp

By the way, I hadn't heard of it being used to treat anxiety either until someone recently posted on the board that they went for treatment of OCD also. But that's the only extent to which I've heard of it being used for an anxiety disorder.

[sleepy21]

Thanks for the imput guys.....still need to do more research before hand and speak further with my consultant to make a decision as to whether to have ECT.