Published case studies of negative side effects of ECT (electric shock treatment) for depression - Cached   www.ect.org
Individual case study is an important and necessary method of collecting evidence.  It allows the nature and extent of amnesia, memory disability, and memory loss to be described in detail impossible to obtain in-group studies. Consistency in individual case studies illustrates that ECT’s permanent effects have not changed over the years.

As Empty As Eve, by Berton Roueche; first published in the New Yorker 9/9/1974; reprinted in The Medical Detectives, 1981  “There weren’t just gaps in my memory. There were oceans and oceans of blankness. And yet there seemed to be kind of a pattern. My childhood recollections were as strong as ever. The fog of amnesia increased as I came forward in time. The events of the past several years were the blurriest and the blankest. Another area that didn’t seem to be affected was ingrained habits—repetitive acts and procedures. I mean, I hadn’t lost my command of the English language. I still knew the multiplication tables…But worst of all my problems was that I couldn’t seem to retain. I couldn’t hang on to my relearning. Or only a part of it. The rest kept sliding away again.”   Cached   www.ect.org

Electroconvulsive Therapy and Memory Loss: A Personal Journey, by Anne Donahue; The Journal of ECT, June 2000.
 “My long-term memory deficits far exceed anything my doctors anticipated, I was advised about, or that are validated by research. To the contrary, either I am one in a thousand, a complete anomaly, to be able to document memory loss still remaining after 3 years and extending as far back as occurrences eight to nine years ago, or the profession in general, after all these years of treatment with ECT, has still failed to identify and come to terms with the true potential risks.”   Cached   www.ect.org
Anne has pioneered legislature in Vermont where one needs to sign informed-consent paperwork before receiving ECT.
Informed consent includes a more candid video for prospective ECT patients.

Evidence for permanent memory and cognitive impairment is found in the neuropsychological evaluations (standardized batteries of tests for brain damage, taking place over two or more days) obtained by individual survivors at their own expense; many of these are collected in the archives of the Food and Drug Administration, Docket #82P-0316.  Cached   www.ect.org