Approach to Psychiatric Patient – Behavioral Medicine Practice Test

Thought blocking is the sudden interruption of the train of thought, causing speech to stop mid-sentence or before the idea is completed. In schizophrenia, this reflects a disruption in the flow of thought and the ability to maintain ongoing speech. The person may start talking and then abruptly pause, sometimes unable to recall what they were going to say, which can be distressing.

This differs from confabulation, which is filling in memory gaps with plausible but false information; from word salad, which is severely disorganized and nonsensical speech; and from preservation, which is the repetitive sticking to a word or idea rather than an abrupt interruption of thought. Thought blocking best explains the sudden halt in speech seen in this context.