ECT response in psychotic versus nonpsychotic unipolar depressives.

Thirty primary unipolar depressives were studied to determine whether depressed patients with psychotic symptoms respond better to ECT than those without such symptoms. Psychotic (N = 9) and nonpsychotic (N = 21) patients showed equal therapeutic benefit in similar periods of time. Thus, the presence of psychotic symptoms did not enhance the degree of response to ECT in patients with primary unipolar major depression.