AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
South Africa's economy is divided. It is divided between First World and Third World standards. The developed part of the economy is similar to that of most nations with wealth (for example, Britain or Australia). The rest of the economy is closer to that of poor nations, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The main companies in South Africa are mining (mostly for gold and diamonds), car making, and service industries, such as insurance.
Unemployment is very high. Income inequality is about the same as Brazil. During 1995–2003, the number of older jobs went down. Informal jobs went up. Overall unemployment got worse. The average South African household income went down a lot between 1995 and 2000. As for racial inequality, Statistics South Africa said that in 1995 the average white household earned four times as much as the average black household. In 2000 the average white family was earning six times more than the average black household. The action policies have seen a rise in black economic wealth. There is a developing black middle class. Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. South Africa suffers from mostly heavy overall regulation compared to developed countries. labor rules have added to the unemployment weakness.
South Africa is a nation of about 50 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The last census was held in 2001 and the next will be in 2011. Statistics South Africa had five racial categories by which people could classify themselves, the last of which, "unspecified/other" drew "not needed" responses, and these results were not counted. The 2009 middle-year estimated figures for the other categories were Black African at 79.3%, White at 9.1%, Colored at 9.0%, and Asian at 2.6%.
Even though the population of South Africa has grown in the past decade (mostly because of immigration), the country had an yearly population growth rate of −0.501% in 2008 (CIA est.), counting immigration. The CIA thinks that in 2009 South Africa's population started to grow again, at a rate of 0.281%. South Africa is home to an estimated 5 million illegal immigrants, counting about 3 million Zimbabweans. A series of anti-immigrant riots happened in South Africa beginning on 11 May 2008.
South Africa is divided into 9 provinces. The provinces are in turn divided into 52 districts: 8 metropolitan and 44 district municipalities. The district municipalities are further divided into 226 local municipalities.
1. Johannesburg
2. Cape Town
3. Durban
4. Pretoria
It may be suggested that there is no single South African culture because of its ethnic diversity. Today, the diversity in foods from many cultures is enjoyed by all and marketed to tourists who wish to taste South African food. Food is not the only thing, music and dance is there too.
South African food is mostly meat-based and has spawned the South African social gathering known as a "braai", or barbecue. South Africa has also developed into a big wine maker. It has some of the best vineyards lying in valleys around Stellenbosch, Franschoek, Paarl and Barrydale.
South Africa is the only Western country of Africa.
Most South African blacks still have poor lives. It is among these people, however, that cultural traditions live most strongly. This is because blacks have become urbanised and Westernised, much parts of traditional culture have fallen. Urban blacks normally speak English or Afrikaans in addition to their native tongue. There are smaller but still important groups of speakers of Khoisan languages who are not in the eleven official languages, but are one of the eight other officially recognized languages.
Members of middle class, who are mostly white but whose ranks are growing numbers of black, colored and Indian people, have lifestyles similar in many ways to that of people found in Western Europe, North America and Australasia. Members of the middle class often study and work from foreign countries for greater exposure to the markets of the world.
Approximately 9,800 Roma gypsies live in South Africa.
According to the 2001 national census, Christians accounted for 79.7% of the population. This has Zion Christian (11.1%), Pentecostal (Charismatic) (8.2%), Roman Catholic (7.1%), Methodist (6.8%), Dutch Reformed (6.7%), Anglican (3.8%); members of other Christian churches accounted for another 36% of the population. Muslims accounted for 1.5% of the population, Hinduism about 1.3%, and Judaism 0.2%. 15.1% had no religious affiliation, 2.3% were other and 1.4% were unspecified.
South Africa's most liked sports are soccer, rugby union and cricket. Other sports that are popular are swimming, athletics, golf, boxing, tennis and netball. Soccer is the most liked among youth. There are other sports like basketball, surfing and skateboarding that are becoming more liked.
Famous boxers from South Africa are Baby Jake Jacob Matlala, Vuyani Bungu, Welcome Ncita, Dingaan Thobela, Gerrie Coetzee and Brian Mitchell. There are football players who have played for major foreign clubs. Some of them are Lucas Radebe and Philemon Masinga (both were of Leeds United), Quinton Fortune (Atletico Madrid and Manchester United), Benni McCarthy (Ajax Amsterdam, F.C. Porto and Blackburn Rovers), Aaron Mokoena (Ajax Amsterdam, Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth), Delron Buckley (Borussia Dortmund) and Steven Pienaar (Ajax Amsterdam and Everton). South Africa made Formula One motor racing's 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter. Famous current cricket players are Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy and more. Most of them also participate in the Indian Premier League.
South Africa has also made many world class rugby players. Some of them are Francois Pienaar, Joost van der Westhuizen, Danie Craven, Frik du Preez, Naas Botha, and Bryan Habana. South Africa hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup at their first try. They won the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. South Africa was only allowed to participate from 1995 since the end of Apartheid. It followed the 1995 Rugby World Cup by hosting the 1996 African Cup of Nations. It had the national team, 'Bafana Bafana,' going on to win the tournament. It also hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup. and the 2007 World Twenty20 Championship. Both of them were a great success.
In 2010, South Africa became the first African nation to host the FIFA World Cup. The national team has competed in three World Cups. It bid for the right to stage the 2004 Olympic Games, but finished third to Athens. South Africa is also well known for their cricket team. They are right now the world's number one in test match cricket.
The main schools span the first seven years of schooling. In the age of Apartheid, schools for blacks were subject to judgment through funding and so forth. Instruction can take place in Afrikaans as well. Public payment on education was at 5.4% of the 2002-05 GDP.
South Africa's military is the most powerful in southern Africa. South Africa spends more on its military than any of its neighboring countries do. They have very advanced weapons as a result. South Africa used to have nuclear weapons, but they were taken apart in 1993.
Andorra (), officially the Principality of Andorra, is a landlocked sovereign country located in the eastern Pyrenees Mountains of Southern Europe and bordered by Spain and France. There are about 84,000 people living in the country. The capital is Andorra la Vella. It is ruled by a Spanish Bishop and the French President. Andorra's government is a parliamentary democracy.
Andorra is a rich country mostly because of tourism. There are about 10.2 million visitors each year.
The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also used.
It is not a member of the European Union. The euro is the money used.
It is said that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) gave the Andorran people their country in return for fighting against the Moors.
Before 1095, Andorra did not have any type of military protection. The Lord of Caboet and the Bishop of Urgell decided to rule Andorra together. In 1607 Henry IV of France said the head of the French state and the Bishop of Urgell would be co-princes of Andorra.
Andorra declared war on Imperial Germany during World War I. It did not do any fighting. They stayed against Germany until 1957 because they were not in the Treaty of Versailles.
Andorra doesn't have an Army. France and Spain help to defend Andorra. The country has a police force of 295.
Andorra has seven parishes:
Andorra is in the Pyrenees mountain range. The highest mountain is Coma Pedrosa.
The largest cities in Andorra are:
For other locations in Andorra, see List of cities in Andorra.
The population of Andorra is mostly (90%) Roman Catholic. Their patron saint is Our Lady of Meritxell.
Children between the ages of 6 and 16 must have full-time education. Education up to secondary level is paid by the government.
The University of Andorra (UdA) is the state public university. It is the only university in Andorra.
Hiroshima (広島) is the capital city of Hiroshima Prefecture. It is the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Japan. About a million people live in Hiroshima.
At the time of the attack, Hiroshima was the headquarters of the 2nd General Army and 5th Division. It contained 40,000 Japanese soldiers within the city's limit, and was a beehive (or center) of war industry. The industry manufactured parts for planes and boats, bombs, rifles, and handguns. Children also were shown how to construct and throw gasoline bombs. and the heavy sick were assembling traps to be planted in the beaches of Kyushu. As with other Japanese cities, many of the strategic targets in Hiroshima were mixed with civilian homes and centers made of wood and paper. This made it harder to conduct a successful precision attack. And the highly inaccuracy of the bombing technology in World War II was owed to it. As a result, the city became the first nuclear weapon used against a target in history.
The bomb exploded over Hiroshima at 8:16 on the morning of August 6, 1945. Much of the city was destroyed. An estimated 70,000 persons were killed. 20,000 were Japanese soldiers and 20,000 were Korean slave laborers of all the kiled. Another 70,000 were injured. The bomb was nicknamed "Little Boy" after President Theodore Roosevelt. A building near the blast center still remains and is called the Atomic Bomb Dome.
Near to Hiroshima, there is a small island called Miyajima. The island is known for its deer. An old Shinto shrine named Itsukushima Shrine is also here. It is said that Itsukushima shrine was built at the end of the 5th century. The shrine is known for its use of red-colored wood, and especially for the "torii" gate. The gate leads into the shrine, which is partly underwater at high tide. Today, Itsukushima shrine and the Atomic Bomb Dome are registered as World Heritage sites. Also it was a landing site for the U.S.
Richter scale
The Richter scale is a scale of numbers used to tell the power (or magnitude) of earthquakes. Charles Richter developed the Richter Scale in 1935. His scale worked like a seismogram, measured by a particular type of "seismometer" at a distance of 100 kilometers (62 mi) from the earthquake.
Earthquakes 4.5 or higher on the Richter scale can be measured all over the world. An earthquake a size that scores 3.0 is ten times the amplitude of one that scores 2.0. The energy that is released increases by a factor of about 32.
Every increase of 1 on the Richter scale corresponds to an increase in amplitude by a factor of 10 so therefore, it is a logarithmic scale.
The earthquake with the biggest recorded magnitude was the Great Chilean Earthquake. It had a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale and occurred in 1960. Around 6,000 people died because of the earthquake. No earthquake has ever hit 10+ on the Richter Scale.
<nowiki>*</nowiki> There are only 29 days in February during a leap year. Otherwise, February has 28 days.
The phases of the Moon are the different ways the Moon looks from Earth over about a month.
As the Moon orbits around the Earth, the half of the Moon that faces the Sun will be lit up. The different shapes of the lit portion of the Moon that can be seen from Earth are known as phases of the Moon. Each phase repeats itself every 29.5 days.
The same half of the Moon always faces the Earth, because of tidal locking. So the phases will always occur over the same half of the Moon's surface.
A phase is an angle of the moon to the earth so it appears differently every day.
The moon goes through 8 major phases.
A supermoon or Super Pink Moon takes place when moon's orbit is at its closest to the Earth. Supermoon take place each year between March and May. As Moon is exceptionally close to Earth; full Moon appears up to 7% larger and 15% brighter than a typical full moon. Traditionally any full moon that occurred in April was called a pink moon because it marked the blooming of Moss pink a wildflower.
A sphere is a shape in space that is like the surface of a ball. Usually, the words "ball" and "sphere" mean the same thing. But in mathematics, a sphere is the surface of a ball, which is given by all the points in three dimensional space that are located at a fixed distance from the center. The distance from the center is called radius of the sphere. When the sphere is filled in with all the points inside, it called a ball.
Common things that have the shape of a sphere are are basketballs, superballs, and playground balls. The Earth and the Sun are nearly "spherical", meaning sphere-shaped.
A sphere is the three-dimensional analog of a circle.
The volume (formula_1) of a sphere is given by
where formula_3 is the radius of the sphere.
The surface area (formula_4) of a sphere is given by
In Cartesian coordinates, the equation for a sphere with a center at (formula_7, formula_8, formula_9) is as follows:
Quantity or amount is how much of something there is that can be counted or measured.
Whole numbers (1, 2, 3 ...) are used to count things. This can be done by pointing to each one. As things are pointed to, a number is said. Start with the number one. Each time another thing is pointed to, the next whole number is used. When the last thing in a group it pointed to, that number is the quantity of the group.
Measuring is done with a ruler or a machine. We put a ruler next to a thing to measure how long it is. We put things on a scale to measure their mass. Other machines are used to measure other quantities such as temperature, speed, electric current, and so on.
When measuring things, a whole number might not be the best answer. A distance might be longer than 5 meters, but less than 6 meters. Meter sticks are marked off in parts of a meter. Decimals are formed by marking off a ruler in ten equal parts. Each part is a tenth. 5.2 meters is a little bit longer than 5 meters. 5.7 meters is a little bit shorter than 6 meters. Each of these tenths can be marked with ten smaller parts. The one hundred centimeters on a meter stick are done this way; by marking ten equal parts, then marking ten equal parts of each of those parts.
Fractions are used when there are parts of a whole number. The dial on a machine may be marked with four parts between each whole number. A scale with a bag of potatoes may show five and three-quarters kilograms. This would be almost six kilograms.
People often use the word "amount" when they should say "number". The words "number" and "amount" should be used if a particular number could be put: e.g.
Advertising is how a company encourages people to buy their products, services or ideas. Advertising is one element of marketing, which also includes design, research and data mining.
An advertisement (or "ad" for short) is anything that draws good attention towards these things. It is usually designed by an advertising agency for a sponsor or brand and made public by various media. Ads appear on television, radio, newspapers, magazines and billboards in streets and cities. Advertisers use methods that attract attention.
Advertisers influence our emotions by techniques that include stereotyping and targeting the audience: who we are. Emotions are influenced by our occupation, beliefs, personality, self esteem, lifestyle, relationships, friends, how we look and what we wear.
Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in the ruins of Pompeii and ancient Arabia. Lost and found advertising on papyrus was common in Ancient Greece and Rome. Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is present to this day in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. The tradition of wall painting can be traced back to Indian rock art paintings that date back to 4000 BC.
Londoner Thomas J. Barratt (1841–1914) has been called "the father of modern advertising". He worked for the Pears Soap company, eventually becoming its Chairman. Barratt created an advertising campaign for the company products. It used targeted slogans, images and phrases. One of his slogans, "Good morning. Have you used Pears' soap?" was famous in its day and into the 20th century.
Barratt introduced many of the crucial ideas that lie behind successful advertising and these were widely circulated in his day. He constantly stressed the importance of a strong and exclusive brand image for Pears and of emphasizing the product's availability through saturation campaigns. He also understood the importance of constantly reevaluating the market for changing tastes and mores, stating in 1907 that "tastes change, fashions change, and the advertiser has to change with them. An idea that was effective a generation ago would fall flat, stale, and unprofitable if presented to the public today. Not that the idea of today is always better than the older idea, but it is different – it hits the present taste."
As the economy expanded across the world during the 19th century, advertising grew alongside. In the United States, the success of this advertising format eventually led to the growth of mail-order advertising.
Very important was the growth of mass media, with mass circulation illustrated newspapers in the later 19th century followed by movies, radio and television.
Advertising happens in many different ways. Many products are advertised on television, although not all channels permit advertising. The advertisements usually appear during breaks between a television show. They are usually for products, other television shows or movies and are not normally much longer than 30 seconds. Some radio stations have audio advertisements that play between programmes.
An advertisement for a movie is called a trailer. It shows a short collection of clips from the movie, and shows the date it will be released in cinemas.
Advertising also takes place on websites. These may appear as "banner ads" or "popups". They are often still images or flash animations. The owner of the website will get money when a user clicks on the advertisement. Sometimes they will get a percentage of the money if they buy a product.
Billboards advertise products on highways and city streets. These may simply be freestanding billboards or may be part of street furniture such as a bus shelter. Buses and taxis are often covered in adverts, while budget airlines sometimes allow advertising inside their planes. Adverts also appear in newspapers, magazines and sports programmes. Many stadiums have adverts set around them. Sports teams, tournaments, television programmes and public events may have a sponsor who is the main or sometimes only advertiser.
Advertisers use many different techniques to get people to notice their adverts, often using deliberately shocking or provocative images.Once they have managed to make people notice their advert, they need to 'sell' the product or brand. They may try to make the product look appealing, however often advertisers use humor in such a way that get people to remember the brand without actually promoting the product. Poor adverts can damage sales or spoil a brand's identity.
Advertising is often strictly regulated, for instance in the United Kingdom it is illegal to advertise tobacco, except in the shop where it is sold and this is also restricted. In France it is illegal to advertise alcohol, meaning that when many European football teams play in France, they cannot play in their usual shirts as breweries often advertise on sports shirts. It is also illegal to advertise on some television channels, the BBC in the United Kingdom and RTE in the Republic of Ireland are not allowed to permit advertising and instead make their revenue from selling a compulsory television licence. Some countries such as Canada regulate misleading advertising and labelling to try and prevent deceptive practices and protect consummers.
A Buddha is the holiest type of being in Buddhism, a teacher of God's and humans. The word "Buddha" means "enlightened one" in Sanskrit or Fully Awakened One in Pāli.
It is also a title for Siddhartha Gautama. He was the man who started Buddhism. Sometimes people call him "the Buddha" or the "Shakyamuni Buddha". Other times, people call any person a Buddha if they have found enlightenment. If a person has not found enlightenment yet, but is very close to reaching it, then he is called bodhisattva.
Buddhists believe that there are many Buddhas. The most recent one was Gautama Buddha. People who will become Buddhas someday are called "bodhisattvas."
Buddhists believe that the Buddha was enlightened, which means that he knew all about how to live a peaceful life and how to avoid suffering. He is said to have never argued with other people, but only said what was true and useful, out of compassion for others.
Some Buddhists pray to Buddhas, but Buddhas are not gods. Buddhas are teachers who help the people who will listen. A Buddha is a human being who has woken up and can see the true way the world works. This knowledge totally changes the person so that they can have a better life in the present and the future. A Buddha can also help a person achieve enlightenment.
There are ideas which are said to lead someone to enlightenment. They are called the "Dharma" (Sanskrit) or "Dhamma" (Pāli), meaning "the way" or "the truth." Anyone can become a Buddha, but it is very difficult. He became Buddha under the peepal or "bodhi" tree at Bodhgaya in Bihar in what is now India.
There is a special type of Buddha called a "pratyekabuddha" or "silent Buddhas". These Buddhas reached "enlightenment" on their own, but they did not teach others.
Another type of Buddha is a "samyaksambuddha". This is the best kind of Buddha because he is able to teach all living beings.
Buddhists believe that there have been many Buddhas in the past. There will also be many Buddhas in the future. Traditionally, seven Buddhas are given names.
Maitreya will be the next Buddha.
A Buddha is a person who has reached perfection. Some believe that there are 32 physical features of a Buddha; these are the 32 marks of a Great Man from Vedic brahmin folklore, but are mentioned in the Pāli canon. Some of these features are represented in art and sculpture. These are listed below.
3. “Chapter 3 Buddhism. Origins and Fundamental Tenets. .” Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations, section written by Cathy Cantwell & Hiroko Kawanami., Routledge, 2016, pp. 75–78Flag of the United States
The flag of the United States of America is a national flag. It has 7 red stripes and 6 white stripes. These 13 stripes represent the original thirteen colonies. The flag also has a blue "canton", a rectangle in the top left corner. There are 50 stars which represent the 50 states of America.
When a new state joins the United States a new flag is made with an extra star. The new flag is first flown on the 4th of July, Independence Day.
The last states to join the United States were Alaska and Hawaii in 1959. Alaska joined on 3 January 1959, so the new flag with 49 stars was used from 4 July 1959. Hawaii joined on 21 August 1959 so the flag with 50 stars that is used today was not flown until 4 July 1960. This 50 star design was created by Robert G. Heft for a school project.
The colors in the flag are red, white and blue. The colors have no special meaning in the flag, but in the coat of arms white stands for purity and innocence, red for bravery and strength and blue for watchfulness, perseverance and justice.
The flag is also often called the Stars and Stripes, the Star-Spangled Banner, or Old Glory. The national anthem of the United States is a reference to the flag.
Since 1818, a star for each new state has been added to the flag on the Fourth of July immediately following each state's admission. In years in which multiple states have been admitted, the number of stars on the flag has jumped correspondingly. The greatest example so far was in 1890, when five states were admitted within the span of a single year (North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington in November 1889 and Idaho on 3 July 1890). This change has typically been the only change made with each revision of the flag since 1777, with the exception of changes in 1795 and 1818, which increased the number of stripes to 15 and then returned it to 13, respectively.
As the exact pattern of stars was not specified prior to 1912, and the exact colors not specified prior to 1934, many of the historical U.S. national flags (shown below) have had varied designs.
America may refer to:
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was a leader of nationalism in British-ruled India. He is more commonly called Mahatma Gandhi; "mahatma" is an honorific meaning "great-soul" or "venerable" in Sanskrit. He was first called this in 1914 in South Africa. He is also called "Bapu" in India (Gujarati endearment for "father", "papa").
He was the Martyr of the Nation since 1948. Rabindranath Tagore gave him the title of 'Mahatma'.
Gandhi was one of the most important people involved in the movement for the independence of India. He was a non-violent activist, who led the independence movement through a non-violent protest.
Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat, India. Several members of his family worked for the government of the state. When Gandhi was 18 years old, he went to study law in England. After he became a lawyer, he went to the British colony of South Africa where he experienced laws that said people with dark skin had fewer rights than people with light skin. In 1897, Gandhi was attacked by a group of people in Durban Harbor, South Africa when he was going to work. He went to South Africa because he could not find work in India. When traveling through South Africa, Gandhi was also kicked out of a first class train because of his skin color. Then Gandhi started protesting against segregation. He decided then to become a political activist, so he could help change these unfair laws. He created a powerful, non-violent movement. During Gandhi's life, India was a colony of the British Empire, but wanted independence. He was a huge leader during that era and his thoughts helped catalyze the Indian independence movement.
Gandhi was a vegetarian almost all his life, because he believed in non-violence (ahimsa).
On 9 January, 1915 when Gandhi returned to India, he decided to again lead a march against a law called the Rowlatt Act. But then the protest turned violent and people started to kill the protesters.
On 12 March, 1930 Gandhi led the Salt March.
When he returned to India, he helped cause India's independence from British rule, inspiring other colonial people to work for their own independence, break up the British Empire, and replace it with the Commonwealth.
People of many different religions and ethnic groups lived in British India. Many people thought that the country should break into separate countries so that different groups could have their own countries. In particular, many people thought that Hindus and Muslims should have separate countries. Gandhi was a Hindu, but he liked ideas from many religions including Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and he thought that people of all religions should have the same rights, and could live together peacefully in the same country.
In 1938, Gandhi resigned from Congress. He said that he was no longer able to work through Congress to unite the divisions in caste and religion. He also felt that he had little to offer to the political process.
On 15 August, 1947, the British Indian Empire split into India and Pakistan. Gandhi wanted independence, but did not want the former Raj to split into two different countries. Instead of celebrating on independence day, he was crying over the end of British India.
Gandhi's principle of "satyagraha", often translated as "way of truth" or "pursuit of truth", has inspired other democratic and anti-racist activists like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Gandhi often said that his values were simple, based upon traditional Hindu beliefs: truth ("satya"), and non-violence ("ahimsa").
On January 30, 1948 Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead by an Hindu activist Nathuram Godse, because Godse thought that Mahatma Gandhi was too respectful to the Muslims.
Schizophrenia is a condition which may be diagnosed by a psychiatrist. It is mental illness where people may see, hear or believe things that are not real. It can be big problem for people who have it. Some similar mental illnesses include schizotypal personality disorder schizoaffective disorder and schizoid personality disorder.
It is a relatively common condition affecting one in 200 people. It is not infectious in any way. There is a danger that the sufferer may self-harm. Its cause is not exactly known. Very often it first appears in teenage years when the sufferer goes through puberty. There is no cure, but there is treatment which can help most of the sufferers.
People with this disorder often do not behave the way most people do towards others. They also may not know what is real (this is called psychosis). Some common signs are strange beliefs, unclear or confused thinking and language, hallucinations (such as hearing voices that aren't there), poor interaction with others, less expression of feelings, and not doing much. They also may not care about many things.
Schizophrenia is a chronic condition. As of 2021, there is no cure, but a combination of a therapy and certain drugs can allow most people suffering from it to lead a normal life.
The word "schizophrenia" comes from two Greek words that mean "to split" and "mind," because there is a 'split' between what's going on in the person's mind and what is actually happening. A person with schizophrenia does not change between different personalities: they have only one. The condition in which a person has more than one personality, meaning they act like a different person at different times, is dissociative identity disorder. There are no medical tests that can be used to say if a person has schizophrenia or not, so getting a diagnosis depends on which list of symptoms are used. It also depends on the doctor or psychologist who talks to the person. The lists of symptoms include wording like "Disorganized [not organized, or oddly organized] speech present for a significant portion of time". It is difficult to agree on what exactly "disorganized speech" is and how disorganized it has to be. It is also difficult to agree on how long a "significant portion of time" is. Because of this, two doctors or psychologists trying to make a diagnosis may often disagree. One will say that the person is schizophrenic and the other will say he or she is not.
Schizophrenia has many different symptoms, and not everyone with schizophrenia has all of them. For this reason, some scientists think that schizophrenia is several separate illnesses that have some of the same symptoms. These scientists claim that the research done on schizophrenia is not accurate since different researchers mean different things when they use the word "schizophrenia" in scientific studies.
Many medications (licensed drugs to cure or treat an illness) may also cause the same symptoms as schizophrenia. The most common ones are antidepressants (medicines to treat depression) and ADHD medication (medication to treat ADHD, a condition affecting the brain, including memory and focusing on surroundings.) If a person has taken anti-vomiting medication (medication to stop them being sick) for some time and suddenly stops, he or she may get schizophrenia symptoms. Hundreds of medications have schizophrenia symptoms as rare side effects (unintended effects of taking them). Illegal drugs such as LSD, amphetamines, magic mushrooms and cocaine may cause schizophrenia symptoms.
Medical illnesses, and treatment with certain medicines, can cause symptoms very similar to that of schizophrenia. In fact, there are over a hundred medical problems that can cause the same symptoms of schizophrenia. For this reason, it is important to rule out the possibility of either of these things being the cause for the person's symptoms. For this reason, the person should have a thorough medical exam to rule out problems like;
People with schizophrenia often have delusions or hallucinations. A schizophrenic delusion is a belief that is very different from what other people with the same way of life believe. Hallucinations are usually experiences of hearing voices that don't exist. These voices often say unpleasant things to the person. Many people can hear voices like this without being schizophrenic, for instance right before falling asleep. This is called a hypnagogic hallucination. The brain cannot tell them apart from normal sounds that are heard. This is not yet fully understood by science.
There are many risk factors that may cause a person to develop schizophrenia. They include trauma (damage caused by stressful events) and genetics (schizophrenia running in families). Having a schizophrenic parent may be very stressful, and there may also be genes that influence the development of schizophrenia. It is very easy to show that trauma, such as sexual abuse (forced unwanted sexual behaviour towards somebody) increases the risk, but 40 years of searching for the right genes has not found anything that has been confirmed by independent research groups.
People with schizophrenia may also have other mental health disorders, like depression, anxiety and drug abuse. They often have problems functioning in society, and have difficulty keeping a job. However, there are a number of people with schizophrenia who get well and have earned college degrees and had professional careers. For example, Elyn. R. Saks successfully became a law professor at the University of Southern California and a published author.
In a family treatment called "Open dialog" in Finland, eight out of every ten people with schizophrenia "get well." In developing countries, where doctors use less drugs, 2 out of 3 patients get well from schizophrenia. In western countries, where medications are used as treatment, 1 of 3 get well, but many suffer from drug side effects such as diabetes, obesity, and brain damage.
Treatment of schizophrenia may include medication to help treat the symptoms, different types of psychotherapy (therapy by a professional), such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and many rehabilitation therapies (therapies restoring things to how they were before), such as cognitive remediation therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, is a talk therapy that focuses on helping the person to think about their strange ideas (delusions) in more realistic ways.
The therapist may design a behavioral experiment for paranoia (false beliefs of danger) that will help the person to find out for example, if there really are cameras everywhere in the house. For hallucinations, cognitive therapy focuses on normalizing: many people hear voices without being stressed, and we all hear voices in the form of thoughts, it is just that people with schizophrenia hear them a bit more clearly than most people.
The British national guidelines for treatment (NICE) suggest the following treatments:
The guidelines also warn against using more than one antipsychotic drug at the same time. Both for people who are at risk for getting schizophrenia and for people who have got it, they recommend cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and family therapy. Getting support from people who have become well from schizophrenia is also strongly recommended.
The symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three main categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms.
Positive symptoms are thoughts, behaviors, or anything experienced by the senses that are not shared by others - like hearing voices that are not really there. They are called 'positive' not because they are good but because they are "added on". These symptoms may include having strange thoughts that do not make sense (delusions), disorganized thoughts and speech, and feeling, hearing, seeing, smelling, or tasting things that do not exist (hallucinations). Positive symptoms often respond to drug treatment and cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT. Stopping anti-psychotic or anti-vomiting drugs too quickly may also cause these symptoms.
Negative symptoms are thoughts, behaviors or emotions normally present in a healthy person that a person with a mental disorder has less of or may not have at all; they are 'minus' these. The sign for minus is -; it is also the sign for the word "negative". Negative symptoms includes a 'flat affect'; having a blank inexpressive look on the face and/or monosyllabic speech (speech always sounding the same) spoken in a slow monotone, few gestures, lack of interest in anything including other people, and an inability to act spontaneously or feel pleasure. These problems are also side effects of anti-psychoctic drugs. They may also be symptoms of many medical problems such as a metabolism that is too low.
Cognitive symptoms are problems with attention, certain types of memory, the concept of time, and with the ability to plan and organize. Cognitive deficits caused by schizophrenia can also be difficult to recognize as part of the disorder. They are the most disabling of the symptoms because cognitive problems affect everyday functioning. These problems may also be side effects of anti-psychotic drugs, antidepressants, sleeping medication and anti-anxiety drugs.
A combination of what has happened to a person and the person’s genes may play a role in the development of schizophrenia. People who have family members with schizophrenia and who experienced a brief period of psychotic symptoms have a 20 to 40 percent chance of being diagnosed one year later. This may be both the result of stressful events because of the family member and possibly a genetic effect.
It is difficult to know if schizophrenia is inherited because it is hard to find out whether something comes from genes or the environment. Those who have a parent, a brother or sister with schizophrenia have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia. The risk is even higher if you have an identical twin with schizophrenia. This may seem to show that schizophrenia is inherited. However, it may be the stress of living with a schizophrenic family member that is traumatic. Identical twins are much closer and are treated much more in the same way, and this may be the reason why one of them is more likely to get schizophrenia if the other has it. Dr Jay Joseph has found many problems with the scientific studies of inheriting schizophrenia, including false reporting of results. Joseph also claims that 40 years of the search for the schizophrenia gene has not found a single gene that independent research groups have confirmed.
There are may environmental risk factors factors for schizophrenia such as drug use, stress before birth and in some cases exposure to infectious diseases (a disease that spreads from person to person). In addition, living in a city during childhood or as an adult has been found to double the risk of schizophrenia . This is true even after taking into account drug use, race, and the size of one’s social group. Other factors that play an important role include whether the person feels socially isolated, as well as social adversity, racial discrimination (treating a person badly because of their race), the person's family not working properly, unemployment, and poor housing conditions. There is evidence that childhood experiences of abuse or trauma are risk factors for developing schizophrenia later in life.
Several drugs have been linked with the development of schizophrenia and the abuse (harmful use) of certain drugs can cause symptoms like those of schizophrenia. About half of those people who have schizophrenia use too much drugs or alcohol, possibly to deal with depression, anxiety, boredom, or loneliness. Frequent marijuana use may double the risk of serious mental illness, including schizophrenia.
More people with schizophrenia smoke than the general population; it is estimated that at least 60% to as many as 90% of people with schizophrenia smoke. Recent research suggests that cigarette smoking may be a risk factor for developing schizophrenia. Smoking also reduces the effects and side effects of anti-psychotic drugs, and this may be one of the reasons for the high smoking rate. Patients taking anti-psychotic drugs die up to 20 years earlier than others, possibly because the medication makes them overweight, gives diabetes and leads to them smoking.
Factors such as lack of oxygen, infection, or stress and lack of healthy foods in the mother during pregnancy, might result in a slight increase in the risk of schizophrenia later in life. People who have schizophrenia are more likely to have been born in winter or spring (at least in the northern half of the world). This might relate to increased rates of exposures to viruses before birth. This difference is about 5 to 8 percent.
Some people who have schizophrenia have differences in their brain structure compared to those who do not have the disorder. These differences are often in the parts of the brain that manage memory, organization, emotions, the control of impulsive behavior, and language. For example, there is less brain volume in the frontal cortex and temporal lobes, and problems within the corpus callosum, the band of nerve fibers which connects the left side and the right side of the brain. People with schizophrenia also tend to have larger lateral and third ventricles. The ventricles are spaces within the brain filled with cerebrospinal fluid.
The human brain has 100 billion neurons; each one of these neurons are connected to many other neurons. One neuron may have as many as 20,000 connections; there is between 100 trillion and 500 trillion neural connections in the adult human brain. There are many different parts or 'regions' of the brain. To complete a task - like recalling a memory - usually more than one region of the brain is involved, and they are connected by neural networks which is like the brain's wiring. It is believed that there are problems with the brain's wiring in schizophrenia.
The DSM-IV-TR or the ICD-10 criteria are used to determine whether a person has schizophrenia. These criteria use the self-reported experiences of the person and reported abnormalities (unusual occurrences) in the behavior of the person, followed by a clinical assessment. A person can be determined to have the disease only if the symptoms are severe.
There are various medical conditions, other psychiatric conditions and drug abuse related reactions that may mimic the symptoms of schizophrenia (meaning they have some or all of the same symptoms). For example, delirium can cause visual hallucinations, or an unpredictable changing levels of consciousness. Schizophrenia occurs along with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a disorder in which a person becomes obsessed with certain ideas or actions. However, separating the obsessions of OCD from the delusions of schizophrenia can be difficult.
There is no clear evidence that treating schizophrenia with anti-psychotic drugs early is effective. The British NICE guidelines recommend cognitive behavioural talk therapy for all people at risk. In recent research, 76 patients at risk for schizophrenia were divided into two groups. One group got omega3 for 3 months and the other got a dummy pill (food oil). After 12 months only 4.9% of the omega 3 group had got schizophrenia compared to 27.5% in the other group. There is some evidence which shows that early treatment with drugs improves short term outcomes for people who have a serious episode of mental illness. These measures show little benefit five years later. Attempting to prevent schizophrenia in the pre-onset phase with anti-psychotic drugs is of uncertain benefit and so is not recommended (as of 2009). Prevention is difficult because there is no reliable way to find out in advance who will get schizophrenia.
The treatment of schizophrenia is based upon the phase of the illness the person is in. There are three treatment phases:
There are some goals during the acute phase of treatment. Some of these goals are to prevent harm. To prevent harm, the person being treated will have the severity of psychosis and it's symptoms reduced. These symptoms include agitation, aggression, negative symptoms, self-disorder, and thought disorders. Another goal is to find and treat the things that led to the episode of psychosis. Then, the person will be treated by trying to go back to how they were before psychosis. Lastly, the person will be helped by forming social connections and finding out what treatment plans work for them. Some treatment plans can be for a long time, and others can be for a short time.
The stabilization phase also has goals. One is to reduce the stress the person feels. Another is to prevent the person from experiencing psychosis again. Then, the person is helped further with social connection and getting better. If the person has improved with a medication, it is recommended they keep taking it for at least 6 months.
The last phase of treatment is to make sure that the person is improving. If the treatment has bad side effects, it may be changed in this phase. Some treatments during this stage are psychotherapy and medication. Antipsychotic medications greatly reduce the risk of the person experiencing psychosis again. They are strongly recommended.
The first-line psychiatric treatment for schizophrenia is antipsychotic medication, which can reduce the positive symptoms in about seven to fourteen days. However, medication fails to improve negative symptoms or problems in thinking significantly. Many antipsychotics are Dopamine antagonists (a substance interfering with how another substance works.) High concentrations of Dopamine are thought to be the cause of hallucinations and delusions. For this reason blocking Dopamine reception helps against hallucinations and delusions.
The British national guidelines for treatment (NICE) suggest checking for reactions to traumatic experiences, deciding together with a doctor about using medication, taking into account the side effect risks of getting diabetes, becoming seriously overweight, getting brain damage (tardive dyskinesia, 5% risk per year), men growing breasts, and feelings described as inner torture (akathesia). The guidelines warn against using more than one antipsychotic drug at the same time.
Some reviews of research sponsored by the makers of antipsychotic drugs claim that about 40 to 50 percent of people have a good response to medication, 30 to 40 percent have a partial response, and 20 percent have an unsatisfactory response (after 6 weeks on two or three different drugs). Other research from The British Journal of Psychiatry were more negative and claimed that "the clinical relevance of antipsychotics is in fact limited". This study included 22 428 patients and 11 antipsychotic drugs.
A drug called clozapine is an effective treatment for people who respond poorly to other drugs, but clozapine can lower the white blood cell count in 1 to 4 percent of people who take it. This is a serious side effect.
For people who are unwilling or unable to take drugs regularly, injectable long-acting preparations of antipsychotics can be used. When used in combination with mental and social interventions (treatment), such preparations can help people to continue their treatment.