APA Dictionary of Psychology

n. any drug used to reduce the frequency or severity of epileptic seizures or to terminate a seizure already underway. Until the advent of the hydantoins in the 1930s, anticonvulsants consisted mainly of bromides and barbiturates: Phenobarbital was first used in the treatment of epilepsy in 1912 and remained the mainstay of treatment until the introduction of the hydantoin phenytoin. Drugs now used to treat partial or tonic–clonic seizures include phenytoin, carbamazepine, valproic acid, phenobarbital, and newer anticonvulsants, such as lamotrigine, gabapentin, tiagabine, topiramate, vigabatrin, and zonisamide. Ethosuximide and other succinimides may be used in managing absence seizures. The benzodiazepines are also effective antiseizure medications. Also called antiepileptic.