electroconvulsiveadj.
/ᵻˌlɛktrəʊkənˈvʌlsɪv/, U.S. /əˌlɛktroʊkənˈvəlsɪv/, /əˌlɛktrəkənˈvəlsɪv/, /iˌlɛktrəkənˈvəlsɪv/, /iˌlɛktroʊkənˈvəlsɪv/ Chiefly Psychiatry.
attributive. Designating a form of treatment for mental illness (now esp. depression) in which an electric current is passed through part of the brain to produce a seizure; esp. in electroconvulsive therapy (abbreviated ECT). Also: of or relating to the production of seizures by electrical stimuli.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatment by electricity > [adjective] > types of electrical treatment
electrogenic1848
cataphoretic1889
diathermic1910
iontophoretic1919
short wave1935
electroconvulsive1943
1943 Lancet 12 June 760/1 A demonstration of electro-convulsive therapy by Dr. D. E. Sands.
1961 Amer. Jrnl. Psychiatry 117 839/1 Nine placebo electroconvulsive treatments produced a definitive symptomatic remission of psychogenic amnesia.
1965 Nursing Times 5 Feb. 188/2 Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is used in the treatment of both depressive and manic states.
1990 J. Masson Final Anal. (1991) iii. 53 The male nurse, it had turned out, had ordered electroconvulsive therapy for him and he was in mortal terror of it, having had it once before.
1996 K. Kendall in B. Schissel & L. Mahood Social Control in Canada vi. 144 Cameron conducted brainwashing experiments on unsuspecting patients... The treatments involved twice-daily applications of six electroconvulsive shocks.
2006 Pharmacol. Rep. 58 83 FXT [= fluoxetine] at the doses of 25, 20 and 15 mg/kg significantly increased the electroconvulsive threshold.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1943