All I have is a void: women's perceptions of the benefits and side effects of ECT.

Background: Recent reviews of the benefits and risks associated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have often reported mixed and conflicting results. Although there are very few qualitative studies on ECT, qualitative research offers the advantage of in-depth explorations into how people perceive and experience ECT.

Objective: The objective of this qualitative study was to explore women's experiences and perceptions of the benefits and side effects associated with having ECT.

Methods: The authors used narrative inquiry and in-depth interviews to obtain nine women's accounts and stories of ECT, focusing particularly on their accounts of perceived benefits and side effects associated with ECT.

Results: Qualitative thematic analysis of the interviews with nine women resulted in four main themes emerging from the interviews: "it's sort of like housecleaning," "I don't remember the wedding," made me stupider," and "putting them in a cage with a bear."

Conclusions: Three of the women were able to articulate some perceived benefit arising from ECT, although these women also acknowledged the benefits did not last more than two weeks. The majority of women complained of significant and persistent autobiographical memory loss, cognitive deficits, and fear of the procedure.