The famous German psychiatrist, Emil Kraepelin, from the late 1800s and early 1900s, described flight of ideas (another way of saying racing thoughts) like:

"In states of excitement they [manic patients] are not able to follow systematically a definite train of thought, but they continually jump from one series of ideas to a wholly different one and then let this one drop again immediately. Any question directed to them is at first perhaps answered quite correctly, but with that are associated a great many side remarks which have only a very loose connection, or soon none at all, with the original subject."

I can definitely relate to what Kraepelin wrote, but it is most pertaining to the hypomanias I have experienced, from mild to more severe. In the case of my full blown manias, it can sometimes become even more extreme. With what Kraepelin described, my thoughts can almost feel like multiple radio stations (with DJs and music, and/or thoughts) playing simultaneously. That can be quite disturbing. Sometimes in my mind, I may even repeat phrases or words rapidly or the thoughts take on a musical rhythm, which sometimes even become vocalized. Or such rapid thinking, vocalized, can even turn into a kind of stutter it is so fast that I can't even keep up with them vocally. At its worst, the thoughts feel as if I am trying to juggle many many balls in my head coming from all directions, trying hard not to let them fall. Trying hard to organize them, but not being able to adequately. It can build up into a chaos that becomes so extreme that it makes me literally scream. This is especially the case during my severe manic episodes with mixed features.

Another type of interference I experience during racing thoughts are clang associations and a tendency to rhyme. In the case of the rhyming, there can be some appropriateness in the meanings, but other times, not so much, then as Kraepelin mentioned, the next sentences go off in a totally different direction, which is usually not a direction within my direct control.

I am a big fan of the composer Beethoven. Some people have speculated that he had bipolar disorder. If this is the case, I believe his string quartet, Grosse Fuge Op. 133, may be an example of a flight of ideas, of a sort. I wrote about an experience at a concert that included the Grosse Fug. Though some of it (especially the beginning) seems from a stable mind, a little later it becomes more like flight of thoughts. Anyone who wishes to hear this piece can listen to it on Youtube at The beauty of this video is that it literally shows what I interpret as multiple thoughts expressed simultaneously. What is written as captions at the top then later bottom of the video is quite interesting. When first heard, people were quite perplexed. Beethoven was even asked to rewrite this finale to the opus. Luckily this first version was not lost. In modern times, only the original version is usually played.

When I heard Beethoven's Grosse Fuge live, I was lucky enough to be sitting in the first row of the concert hall. The experience for me was intense and I understood it. At the end of the piece, the musicians in the quartet were visibly shaken from the experience. There, I knew that they understood flight of ideas, too, from this pieced. It was both a mental and physical experience for them. They were spent and frazzled. I remember locking eyes with the violist. She knew I truly understood, too.