Bit tangential but I think this can be informative for some sufferers - I've been taking zoloft for a few years now as I have (or had I should say) panic/anxiety attacks and co-morbid depression which went untreated for decades ... I inquired from my doctor about ECT, and although ECT is the cadillac of treatments, in some patients that it has not worked, to my great surprise, nicotine has had a really great effect on reducing or eliminating depression.

I'm not advocating taking up smoking, although it is something worthwhile to consider if things like ECT don't help. There's probably ways nicotine can be therapeutically administered without the negative side-effects of burning tobacco.

I had a similar experience, suffered for years with severe depression. Tried every type of drug, nothing was working. But stimulants significantly helped.

Turns out it wasn't depression, but type 2 bipolar. If stimulants are providing relief, you need to see a psychiatrist if you haven't already.

There is, unfortunately, a social stigma associated with the non-tobacco-smoking form of nicotine ingestion and the components to those devices (e-cigarettes) are not regulated enough for us to be fully sure of their effects.

You mean batteries and heating elements? No, to be less obtuse, I must infer: Clearly you mean the fluids.

Let me get this straight...you are actually claiming that regulation increases knowledge? The mind boggles.

That is a shocking and novel epistemological formula - although obviously it has been the implicit subtext of public education in the u.s. for over a century.

No, I'm talking about the heating elements.

'Our results demonstrate that overall electronic cigarettes seem to be less harmful than regular cigarettes, but their elevated content of toxic metals such as nickel and chromium do raise concerns," said Constantinos Sioutas, professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and corresponding author of the study, which was published online on August 22 by the Journal of Environmental Science, Processes and Impacts.

The metal particles likely come from the cartridge of the e-cigarette devices themselves - which opens up the possibility that better manufacturing standards for the devices could reduce the quantity of metals in the smoke," said Arian Saffari, a PhD student at USC Viterbi and lead author of the paper. "Studies of this kind are necessary for implementing effective regulatory measures. E-cigarettes are so new, there just isn't much research available on them yet.'

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/uosc-ses08281...

But now that you mention it, the vapor does emit alarming levels of formaldehyde when the devices are used at high voltage:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1413069

The methodology of that NEJM study was flawed and naive, at best. Look into it.

You can choose from the whole palette of Nicotine Replacement Therapy devices: Adhesive patches, chewing gums, lozenges, nose sprays, and inhalers. :)

I'm on Zoloft now as well (who isn't). But its done wonders for me even with the side effects. I suffered from actual psychosomatic dizziness and vertigo which was making life hell and it totally got rid of it.

You can try an e-cigarette

I do :).

Doesn't even modern ECT have serious problems with memory loss side effects?

I think it varies from patient to patient. In my case, 2 separate courses of 6 treatments resulted in almost no short term memory loss.

It does. That's why it should be considered as a last resort if all else fails.