The aim of this study was to explore attitudes of elderly patients with depression receiving secondary psychiatric care towards different types of treatment for depression. One hundred patients, recruited from a large teaching hospital in Birmingham, were subjected to structured interviews at which their attitudes towards the effectiveness, likelihood of causing side-effects and acceptability of anti-depressant medication, ECT and psychotherapy were measured on a five-point Likert scale. Psychotherapy was considered both effective and acceptable by our patients although it is not widely available across the UK. Anti-depressants were also considered to be effective and acceptable although likely to cause side-effects. However, our patients did not think highly of ECT, either in its effectiveness or acceptability.