A 29-year-old woman comes to your office. As you take the history, you notice that she is speaking very quickly, and jumping from topic to topic so rapidly that you have trouble following her. You are able to find some connections between ideas, but it is difficult. Which word describes this thought process?

Flight of ideas occurs when a person in a very swiftly manner take a shifts between the conversation topics,making the person's speech challenging even very difficult to follow. It is a formal thought disorder.
A person who is experiencing flight of ideas may be extremely eager or worried. It is not a mental health condition, but its a symptom of one. Eg. A people with bipolar who are going through mania may experience a flight of ideas. A maniac person jumps from idea to idea. Drugs which cause euphoria may also contribute to this symptom.Schizophrenia may also cause flight of ideas.
Flight of ideas may be relatively mild or severe.When the symptoms are mild, there are various possible techniques which can be used to treat it i.e.Meditation ( self calming), Deep breathing exercises, guided visualizations ( tapes are available to help refocus flying thoughts to smooth ideas), distractions(eg. watching TV).
If the symptoms are very severe, it is a good idea to consult a doctor who may able to prescribe a medicine for managing the anxiety & maniac episode.