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Flight of ideas is a formal thought disorder. It refers to the expression of rapidly shifting thoughts in an individual. Thoughts are expressed through language. In individuals with “flight of ideas,” thoughts are expressed in a highly associative manner. These associations may be linked to cue in the surrounding environment, elicited by associations stemming from the topic or merely by words. The individual’s speech becomes incomprehensible, because he does not tune into the listener’s needs by providing the listener with information that prepares him for changes of topic of conversation, thus making these better understandable.
Flight of ideas may occur in the course of a manic episode, during a psychosis, but is not uncommon in individuals with an autistic disorder of multiple complex developmental disorder. In the latter individuals, the question is raised whether this is really a thought disorder or a communicative...
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References and Readings
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Gaag, J.V.d.R. (2013). Flight of Ideas. In: Volkmar, F.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_50
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_50
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