From choosingtherapy.com:
“Thought blocking can fall into different categories. People may experience one type of thought blocking or oscillating between different types. Stress or other intense emotions likely exacerbate the frequency and intensity of thought-blocking behavior. In the case of schizophrenia, thought blocking is known as a negative symptom.
- Positive thought blocking: Positive thought blocking refers to interrupting short thoughts or speech. After this brief pause, the person will continue with their original thinking or speaking.
- Irrelevant thought blocking: Irrelevant thought blocking happens when someone starts speaking in a completely random or non sequential way. They may be talking about one topic and then suddenly shift to another topic without warning.
- Perseverative thought blocking: Perseverative thought blocking occurs when someone’s thoughts continuously interrupt the conversation. It can also refer to excessive repetition of the same words or ideas even if they do not fit the conversation context.
While experts can’t pinpoint the cause of thought blocking, it correlates with some mood and psychotic disorders. It can also be heightened during stress, emotional exhaustion, or neurological issues. Thought blocking may happen persistently and chronically, but it can also ebb and flow throughout the lifetime.”
From Tiepolo Blue (2022), by James Cahill:
“He crunches the slide carousel into its next sequence, carried on a tide of adrenaline, and wills himself to ignore the worm of doubt that has entered him. An image of shimmering sky flashes up behind him – the cosmos painted over the span of a ceiling, peopled by mythic characters, receding into a whirlpool of golden light. The Allegory of the Power of Eloquence. The moment has arrived.
He steps away from the lectern and raises one hand in a leisurely fashion.
‘This marvellous scene,’ he hears himself say, ‘graces the Palazzo Sandi in Venice. You will observe how Cupid flies blindfolded over the heads of the doomed lovers, Orpheus and Eurydice.’ He listens to the cadence of his voice. From within his own head, he admires its tone, its resonance. With his non-gesticulating hand, he tries to find his jacket pocket.
Then his eyes betray him. They fly across to the face of silent dissent, to see that dissent is mixed, now, with open amusement. His heart beats hard.
‘The sanctity,’ he declares, and flings out his hands, before realising that his voice has stopped like a recording suddenly cut off. What sanctity? His brain is a brilliant white void. Before him lies an army of expectant faces – just a few of them beginning to detect an unintended pause, and one of them wearing its irony openly.
‘The sanctity- ’ he blurts, clutching the last words he remembers. Then he repeats them more quietly, almost to himself, his voice stifled by horror.
They know he is lost. Frantically stroking his jacket, he bows slightly and feels a sharp, hot prickling across his forehead. He clasps his hands together. They are soaking wet.
‘Prompt!’ comes a shout from the audience. It is Gene Caskill – of course. Don sees the man’s teeth framed by his bushy beard.
A ruffle of laughter spreads among his other colleagues from the department. He fights to regain himself. With willed dignity he steps back to the lectern, brings a shaking finger to his notes, and finds his place. The seconds are long and torturous.
‘Yes, indeed, the sanctity of the upper air,’ he begins, and takes a deep, vitalising breath.
In a moment, he has recovered his momentum. He tells them of the allegoric connections between mythic episodes, the zones of the heavens, the paradoxical effects of sunlight – how it sharpens and dissolves! He is back on track. The sweat grows cold on his face and around his chest. He stays at the lectern and his eyes stay faithful. They avoid the back of the room.
It is close to nine o’clock when Don delivers his final sentence.
‘The flat adornment conceals an orderly firmament.’”
Julia Upton 