A sudden obstruction or interruption in spontaneous flow of thinking or speaking, perceived as an absence or a deprivation of thought.
In psychology, involuntary inhibition of recall, ideation, or communication.
A psychiatric disorder, in which someone suddenly stops one train of thought and switches to another.
Interruption of a train of speech before a thought or idea has been completed. After a period of silence, which may last from a few seconds to minutes, the person indicates that he or she cannot recall the topic of conversation. Blocking may or may not be a sign of a mental illness.
A sudden halting of the flow of thought or speech. Blocking of thought, accompanied by the sensation of thoughts being removed from the mind, is a symptom of schizophrenia. Blocking of speech may be a consequence of thought block or a result of a mechanical impediment in speech, such as stammering.
Incapacitation in conveying genuine emotions or thoughts, typically stemming from emotional or psychological turmoil, manifests as an obstruction. According to Freudian psychotherapy, blocking arises from the repression of distressing emotions during early life. Schizophrenia presents a distinct manifestation of thought blocking, where streams of thought are continuously and involuntarily interrupted, only to be substituted by unrelated new ones.