Does ect treat severe depression?

Definitely!: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has a success rate of over 80% among patients with severe depression whose illness failed to respond even to multiple attempts at medication therapy. Its success rate is closer to 90% for the type of depression (called melancholic depression) that entails loss of appetite, slowing down of activity and speech, and insomnia.

ECT for severe depre: Severe Depression can lead to suicide and psychotic symptoms. Many patients with severe depression benefit from Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment, Intensive Outpatient Treatment with Antidepressant medication. Some depressed patients will benefit by changing to different Antidepressant medication or yet another. ECT needs to be considered only when patient has not benefitted from these treatments.