1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia 335 It's cured..by alexipharmicks, roborants, neuroticks, and fitt diet.

1694 W. Salmon Pharmacopœia Bateana i. x. 639/1 It is a famous Cephalick, Neurotick, Stomachick, Cardiack and Uterine.

1716 M. Davies Athenæ Britannicæ II. 356 [Infuse] Rose-Water [upon it] for an Hypnotick or a Neurotick.

1869 J. Harley (title) The old vegetable neurotics.., their physiological action and therapeutical use.

1872 Tanner's Memoranda Poison (ed. 3) Pref. p. viii Neurotics: subdivided into Narcotics, Anæsthetics, Inebriants, Delirants,..Asphyxiants,—and Abortives.

1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 276/2 Poisons may in the manner indicated be classified as (1) Corrosives, (2) Irritants, (3) Neurotics, and (4) Gaseous Poisons.

1835 Lancet 7 Mar. 816/2 This form [of typhoid] occurred for the most part in the weakly and neurotic who had previously borne children.

1884 Lancet 23 Feb. 347/2 Those who do ill are neurotics, chronic dyspeptics, and most subjects of organic disease.

1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 475 They may be made into ‘blue-stockings’ or neurotics, or both together.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 180 It is probable that in the neurotic the nervous system is more likely to be disturbed by general diseases.

1916 A. A. Brill tr. S. Freud Wit & its Relation to Unconsc. iii. vi. 278 The understanding of the symptom of negativism in neurotics and in the insane.

1934 D. Thomas Let. Oct. (1985) 170 Your letter does read as though your nerves had been chewn by a dog. Why, O neurotic, this sudden tremble?

1943 Horizon Oct. 257 As with all neurotics, the confessions of Kierkegaard only contain a grain of the truth.

1967 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 113 406/2 Obsessional neurotics, anxiety neurotics and neurotic depressives.

1990 N.Y. Woman June 97/1 The favorite image of New Yorkers—and all Americans—is of rich, quirky neurotics.

2000 J. Caughie Television Drama iv. 97 Now, however, everybody seems to find something better to do than watch and listen to the morbid meanderings of neurotics and other unhappy people.

1841 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (rev. ed.) Neurotic, a disease having its seat in the nerves.

1659 R. Lovell Παμβοτανολογια 44 They are dry and astringent, and a little hot, cephalick, and neurotick.

1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Neurotic, good for disorders of the nerves.

1873 Proc. Royal Soc. 1872–3 21 361 We have not yet arrived at absolute conclusions as the extent to which this neurotic action is carried, whether it be localized in the nerve-centres only.

1893 Science 18 Aug. 93/1 Thus, in 1862, Taylor established a classification of poisonous substances into mineral, vegetable, neurotic, spinal, and cerebro-spinal poisons.

1866 A. M. H. Brewster St. Martin's Summer 95 The climate, from its lively action on the skin, and the variety of impressions it makes on the body and mind, is capitally suited for alleviating the suffering arising from..every kind of neurotic intermittent produced by mental causes.

1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 29 Jan. 205/1 Those neurotic ailments which have hitherto taxed the skill and care of physicians.

1937 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 42 827 The real interest is his [sc. Freud's] gradual abandonment of the idea that neurotic disorder is the (almost organic) result of a trauma, a shock or unfortunate experience, during infancy.

1971 P. K. Bridges Psychiatric Emergencies vi. 158 Trifluoperazine..and perphenazine (Fentazin, Trilafon) are commonly given to patients with neurotic illnesses.

1991 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 114 693/1 During the course of the major neurotic illness a true conditioning process had taken place, so that the fears remained after the anxiety state had subsided.

1886 Science 31 Dec. 621/1 Our age is called a neurotic one.

1887 A. H. Buck Ref. Handbk. Med. Sci. V. 162 The neurotic woman is sensitive, zealous, managing.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 888 The cause of morphinism in persons not more neurotic than the rest of us.

1910 E. Wharton Let. Mar. (1988) 203 I thought his uncle's case one much more for a neurologist than a man like Osler. He begins to think so too, but is afraid of the bad effect if Henry suspects he is neurotic.

1932 R. Lehmann Invit. Waltz ii. iv. 195 He's definitely neurotic. He ought to be analysed.

1968 Brit. Jrnl. Psychiatry 114 525/1 Improvement tends to occur ‘spontaneously’ in a considerable proportion of untreated neurotic patients.

1988 M. Binchy Silver Wedding iii. 68 He..said that she was a neurotic hysterical fool, a troublemaker.

1990 Sciences July 38/1 Until a few years ago a patient labeled schizophrenic in the U.S. would likely have been called manic-depressive or neurotic in England and delusional psychotic in France.

1907 Bystander 30 Jan. 217 (headline) Harry Thaw on trial. New York's neurotic interest in the millionaire prisoner.

1917 C. R. Payne tr. O. Pfister Psychoanalytic Method 143 The neurotic symptom has several determining factors.

1948 L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 31 The taut-necked donkey's neurotic-asthmatic-erotic lamenting.

1952 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 17 561/2 In an attempt to find at least crude indications of neurotic tendencies, each respondent was asked for a description of any of her own health problems, and for a self-rating of happiness during adulthood.

1972 Newsweek 10 Jan. 3/1 The Nixon Administration has blundered again—having become enslaved by its neurotic emphasis on seeking re-election in '72 at all costs.

1989 R. Alter Pleasures of Reading iii. 82 A given neurotic symptom or dream image is often presumed to have been produced by more than one unconscious motive.

1991 U.S. News & World Rep. 11 Mar. 76/2 Until they shed their neurotic and outmoded resentment of the rest of the world, they will fail.