Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is a kind of treatment for bipolar disorder. It is effective; however, bipolar disorder patients receiving ECT have a high risk of having other severe side effects. Some are even fatal.

A survey was carried out by California Department of Mental Health. The subjects are asked to check their side effects regardless of their age, sex and race. It turns out the they have a) non-fatal cardiac arrests or arrhythmias which required resuscitative efforts; b) fractures; c) apnea persisting 20 minutes or more after initiation of treatment; d) memory loss reported by the patient extending more than 3 months following the completed course of treatment; e) deaths which occur during or within the first 24 hours after a treatment.

Among those complications, the most often reported complication (is extended memory loss. For 19.7% of all patients reported memory loss, taking up 93.6% of all complications. The second most common complication was apnea, with 1.25% of all patients reported, taking 5.9% of all complications.