In your own words, explain why thought blocking is classified as a disorder of the continuity of thought rather than a disorder of thought tempo. Think it through before revealing the model answer.

Disorders of thought tempo are about how fast thinking moves — for example, thinking that races ahead or drags painfully slowly, but keeps moving. Thought blocking isn't a change of speed at all: thinking proceeds at an ordinary pace and then simply stops, with the thread lost entirely, before a new (often unrelated) thread picks up. The problem is a break in the continuity of thought — a gap — not a change in how quickly thought is flowing, which is exactly why it sits in its own category rather than alongside the tempo disorders.