Thoughts About Electroconvulsive Therapy and New Potential Treatments for Treatment-Resistant Depression in the Elderly

Rubin discusses the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and new potential treatments for treatment-resistant depression in elderly. ECT is a reasonably safe and highly effective treatment for severe major depression in elderly patients, especially for those who have severe symptoms, or who do not respond to or are intolerant of treatment with medications. Unlike many severe illnesses that lead to marked morbidity and mortality, late-life depression is often treatable. Symptoms of treatment-resistant depression often remit with ECT with improvement in both depressive symptoms and cognition.