Mid-sentence, describing his weekend, a patient suddenly stops speaking entirely, looking momentarily blank, and afterward cannot recall what he had been about to say, though his speech had been at a completely normal pace right up until that moment. Before revealing the answer: is this inhibition of thinking?
No, this is more consistent with thought blocking than with inhibition of thinking. Inhibition of thinking is a gradual, pervasive slowing of thinking's pace; here, the sudden, complete stop occurring without any preceding slowing, and the inability to recall what was about to be said, is the defining pattern of thought blocking rather than a steady reduction in the rate of thought.
References
- Casey, P. & Kelly, B. (2019). Fish's Clinical Psychopathology, 4th ed. Ch. 4, 'Disorders of Thought and Speech'.