Thought Blocking

Thought blocking is the phenomenon of an individual suddenly breaking off speech for seconds or minutes and then restarting speech on a different topic. Commonly seen in schizophrenics, thought blocking frequently occurs when the patient is discussing something of great personal significance and is sometimes described by the sufferer as "someone stealing their thoughts." Before thought blocking is diagnosed it is important to differentiate the symptoms of thought blocking from the possibility of seizures, aphasia, slow thought processes, or anxiety.