Table 5.

Clinical Indications for Electroconvulsive Therapy as a First-Line Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder.

Acute suicidal ideation (Level 1)

Psychotic features (Level 1)

Treatment-resistant depression (Level 1)

Repeated medication intolerance (Level 3)

Catatonic features (Level 3)

Prior favourable response to ECT (Level 3)

Rapidly deteriorating physical status (Level 3)

During pregnancy, for any of the above indications (Level 3)

Patient preference (Level 4)