para kazanma

Hızlı yoldan zengin olmak ve kolay para kazanmak hepimizin hayalidir. Kim bir gece de milyoner olmanın hayalini kurmaz ki? Ancak lisedeki hocalarımız haklıydı: her şeyin bir bedeli var. Piyangodan para çıkmadıysa para kazanmanız biraz zaman alacaktır ve çaba gerektirecektir. Gelirinizi arttırmanın bir sürü meşru yolu vardır. Sizler için bu meşru para kazanma yollarını araştırdık.

Ek iş yaparak nasıl hızlı para kazanacağınızı merak ediyorsanız makaleyi okumaya devam edin.

Arabanızı reklamla kaplayın

Yolda arabayla giderken üzerinde enerji içeceği veya kızarmış patates reklamları olan bir araba yanınızdan hiç geçti mi? Belki de bu arabanın bir firma çalışanına ait olduğunu düşündünüz. Gerçek şu ki reklam ajansları arabalarını reklamlarla kaplayan sürücülere para öderler.

Firmaya, promosyonun süresine ve bulunduğunuz bölgeye bağlı olarak hareketli billboard olmanıza karşılık aylık 300 TL ve 700 TL arası bir ödeme alabilirsiniz. Bazı firmalar size bedava araç bile verebilir. Tek yapmanız gereken firmanın internet sitesine kaydolmak ve demografik bilgileri doldurmaktır. Bir reklam ajansının hedef özelliklerine uyduğunuz taktirde promosyon uygulaması için seçilebilirsiniz.

Promosyonların süresi bir kaç aydan bir seneye kadar değişir ki bu da iyi bir gelir elde edebileceğiniz anlamına gelir.

Ancak demografik özellikleriniz ve bulunduğunuz bölgeye bağlı olarak firma sizi seçmeyebilir veya seçilmek için uzun süre beklemeniz de gerekebilir. Bir sponsor sizi seçerse sorumluluk ve çaba da nispeten daha düşük olacaktır. Anlaşmaya uymak için her ay belli bir kilometre yapmanız gerekir. Reklamlar çıktıktan sonra arabanız zarar görmez. Arabınıza reklam alma konusunda detaylı bilgi almak için tıklayınız..

Doğrudan satış firması için temsilcilik yapın

Avon gibi doğrudan satış programları aracılığıyla satış yaparak güzel paralar kazanabilirsiniz. Ancak komşularınıza makyaj ve temizlik malzemeleri satma konusunda ikna kabiliyetiniz yüksek olması gereklidir. Yapılan araştırmalara göre Türkiye’de bir satış temsilcisi aylık olarak sattığı ürünlerden ortalama 185 TL kazanıyor.

Doğrudan satışçılar ürünlerinin satılması için geleneksel perakendeciler yerine satış temsilcilerini kullanırlar. Örneğin Avon gibi firmalara katıldığınızda bu firmanın satıcısı olursunuz. Satıcı olduktan sonra size kataloglar ve numuneler gönderilir. Satış yaptığınız için ürünleri toptan fiyatından alırsınız. Toptan fiyat ve yeniden satış fiyatı arasındaki fark sizin karınız olur. Satışlarınız arttıkça bonuslar ve yüksek satış komisyonları kazanırsınız.

Doğrudan satış firmaları peşin ödemeli üyelik ücretleri almaz veya programa katılmadan önce büyük ölçekli toptan alımları yaptırmaz. Doğrudan satışçı olmak istiyorsanız sizden fahiş başlangıç ücretleri talep etmeyen programlara katılmalısınız.

Konu hakkında detaylı bilgi almak için tıklayınız.

Part time işte çalışmak

Hızla para kazanmanın en popüler yollarında biri de part time bir işe girmektir. Örneğin ehliyetiniz varsa bir takside part time şoförlük yapmak güzel bir tercih olabilir. Garsonluk yapmak da en çok tercih edilen part time işler arasındadır.

Part time işler konusunda detaylı bilgi almak için tıklayınız..

Freelance çalışın

Yazarlık, grafik tasarım ve hatta halkla ilişkiler gibi alanlarda freelance çalışmak bu alanlarda deneyimli olan kişilere ek gelir imkanı sağlar.

Ekonomik durgunluk her geçen gün daha fazla firmayı etkilediğinden bu firmalarda tam zamanlı çalışanlar yerine freelance olarak çalışacak kişileri araştırırlar. Bağımsız çalışanlarla işbirliği yapmak daha mantıklıdır çünkü firmalar ihtiyaç duydukları işe para öderler. Ayrıca sosyal yardımlara ve fiziki bir ofise ihtiyaç duyulmayacağından genel giderlerini de azaltırlar. Günümüz ekonomisinde on firmadan dokuzu taahhütle iş yapar. Grafik tasarım, arama motoru optimizasyonu, web tasarım, halkla ilişkiler veya yazarlık gibi pazarlanabilir becerileriniz varsa işverenlerin gider tasarruflarından faydalanabilirsiniz.

Freelance işlere ödenen saatlik ücretler maaşlı pozisyonlardan yüksektir. Diğer taraftan görevler arasında ki zamanları çok iyi ayarlamalısınız. Bir firma freelance çalışan biriyle anlaştığında sosyal yardım ücretlerini ödemek zorunda değildir. Başlamak için çalışacağınız iş türüne uygun online pazarları araştırın. Özgeçmişinizi gönderebileceğiniz ve iş ilanları arayabileceğiniz bir sürü internet sitesi vardır. Bazı internet siteleri işverenle aranızda bağlantı kurma karşılığında komisyon alırken diğerleri de iş listelerine erişim için sabit ücret ister.

Freelance çalışmak konusunda detaylı bilgi almak için tıklayınız.

Özel etkinlikler veya toplantılarda görev almak

Ticari kongreler ve özel etkinlikler, ürünlerini pazarlamak isteyen firmalar için iyi bir fırsattır ve firmalar bu tür organizasyonlarda birilerine ihtiyaç duyarlar. Bu ihtiyaç elektronik fuarında yeni bir cep telefonu için stant açmaktan konser alanında yeni bir enerji içeceğinin numunelerini dağıtmaya kadar dikkatli çekici bir sürü etkinliği kapsar. Bazen sadece firmanın tişörtlerini giymeniz gerekirken bazen de ürünün maskot kostümünü giymeniz gerekir. Saat başı ücret ödenir.  Özgeçmişinizi, resminizi ve fiziksel özelliklerinizi ilgili firmalara gönderin. Bilgilerinizi inceleyen firmalar etkinliklerine göre seçerler. Sponsorlar bu tür etkinliklerde fiziksel görüntüyü kullanırlar tanıtım yaparlar. Bu nedenle fiziksel görüntünüzle alakalı bir iş size çekici gelmiyorsa bu iş sizin için uygun olmayacaktır.

Gizli müşteri olun

Araştırma firmaları gizli müşterilerine alışveriş yaparken, restoranda yemek yerken ve benzin alırken yaşadıkları deneyimleri rapor etmelerine karşılık ödeme yaparlar. Gizli müşterisi olacağınız firma nerede alışveriş yapacağınıza ve nelere dikkat etmeniz gerektiğine dair size belli talimatlar verir. Müşteri hizmetleri, çalışanların tutumları, işletmenin temizliği gibi konularda deneyimlerinize bağlı olarak firmaya rapor sunarsınız. Raporu sunduktan sonra harcadığınız zamana göre para alırsınız ve işletmeden aldıklarınızın parası size iade edilir. Her görevde 12 TL ve 20 TL arası ödeme yapılır. Firmaların birçoğu görevler için online başvuru alır.

Gizli müşteri olarak para kazanma konusunda detaylı bilgi almak için tıklayınız.

Evinizdeki odalardan birini kiralayın

Evinizde fazladan bir odanız varsa veya iki odanız varsa bu odayı başkalarına kiralayarak para kazanabilirsiniz. Bulunduğunuz bölgedeki kira pazarına bağlı olarak her ay 250 TL ve 1000 TL arasında para kazanabilirsiniz. Gazetelerdeki seri ilanları kontrol ederek bulunduğunuz bölgedeki fiyatları karşılaştırabilirsiniz. Ayrıca “airbnb.com” sitesini inceleyerek buraya da ilan bırabilirsiniz.

Ancak oda kiralamak arkanıza yaslanıp para toplamak gibi basit bir şey değildir. Ev sahibi olarak haklarınızı koruyacak bir kira sözleşmesi hazırlamalı, ilanlar verirken ve başvuranlarla görüşürken ayrım karşıtı kanunları takip etmeli, kredi ve geçmiş kontrolü yapmalı ve mülkünüzle ilgili kanunlara uymalısınız. Açıkçası evinizi paylaşırken bireysel problemler ortaya çıkabilir. Bu nedenle başka biriyle evinizi paylaşabileceğinizden emin olmalısınız. Evinizdeki odalardan birini kiralama işi hakkında detaylı bilgi almak için tıklayınız..

Spermlerinizi veya yumurtalarınızı satın (Yurtdışına)

Şüphesiz en kolay ve hızlı para kazanma yollarından biri spermlerinizi satmaktır. Bazı insanlar genetik materyallerini paylaşma konusunda pek de rahat değillerdir. Ancak başka bir çiftin çocuklarının biyolojik ailesi olma fikri sizi rahatsız etse de genetik materyal bağışlamak karlı ve hatta ödüllendiricidir. Yurtdışında yumurtalarını bağışlayan bir kadına 5000 dolar ve 8000 dolar arası ödeme yapılır. Yumurta donörlerinin genellikle 20 ve 30 yaş arasında olması, ortalama boy ve kiloya sahip olması ve sigara içmemesi gerekir.

Sperm donörleri her bağışta 50 dolar ve 100 dolar arasında para alır. Donörlerin en az 18 yaşında olması gerekir ancak 40 yaşına kadar bağışta bulunulabilir. Sperm bankalarının birçoğu erkeklerin boy ortalamasının 1.70 ve 1.75 arasında olması ister. Bazıları lise diploması ve hatta üniversite diploması ister. Bağışlama süreci yumurtalara göre daha basittir. Erkeklerin bağışlardan önceki üç gün boyunca cinsel aktiviteye girmemesi gerekir.

Olası sperm ve yumurta donörlerinin aile tıbbi özgeçmiş anketlerini tamamlaması gerekir. Bu sürece genetik testler ve fiziki muayeneler de dahildir. İnceleme süresi birkaç hafta sürer ve sadece uygun adaylar kabul edilir.

Mobil uygulamalardan para kazanın!

Mobil uygulamalar sayesinde para kazanabileceğiniz hiç aklınıza geldi mi?  Hızlı bir ivmeyle büyümesini sürdüren mobil sektörü kullanıcılara yönelik birçok para kazanma fırsatını da bünyesinde barındırmakta. Özellikle de mobil uygulamalar, para kazanmak isteyen kullanıcılar için birçok seçenek sunmakta.

Para kazandıran mobil uygulamalar hakkında bilgi almak için tıklayınız.

NASA araştırmaları için denek olun

Bu iş fikri şehir efsanesiymiş gibi görünse de NASA doksan gün boyunca yatakta yatmanıza karşılık size 5,000 dolar öder. Bu para kazanma yolu gerçek olamayacak kadar iyi bir fırsat olsa da sonuçta bu deney bilimsel bir uygulamadır. Deneklerin fiziksel aktivite yapmalarına izin verilmez ancak televizyon izleyebilirler, kitap okuyabilirler veya bilgisayar kullanabilirler.

Ancak bu çalışmalar hafife alınmamalıdır. Ciddi sağlık problemleri olan bireyler çalışmalara katılamaz ve başvuran kişilerin psikolojik incelemeden geçmesi gerekir. Çalışma boyunca cinsel faaliyette bulunulamaz. Ayrıca bu tür çalışmaların uzun vadeli ve kısa vadeli etkileri olabilir. Çalışmalara katılan kişilerin kemik kitlelerinin de her ay %1 ve %2 arasında kayıp olur ve bu kitle geri kazanılamaz.

Saçınızı satın

Eğer uzun, bakımlı ve doğal saçlarınız varsa bunu nakite çevirmeniz oldukça basit. Rengine, uzunluğuna ve şekline göre saçın kilogram fiyatı ortalama 1000 TL’ye kadar çıkabilmektedir. Saç satın alan kişi ve firmalara internetten kolaylıkla ulaşabilirsiniz. Bu konuda detaylı bilgi için ” Saçımı Satmak İstiyorum ” başlıklı yazımızı ziyaret edebilirsiniz.

Otomat işi yapın

Otomat makinaları size, düşük başlangıç maliyetleriyle hızlı ve kolay para kazanma fırsatı sunar. Otomat işine başlayarak aylık 2.000 TL’ye kadar para kazanabilirsiniz. Para kazandıracak otomat makinalarını incelemek için tıklayınız.

İlaç deneği olun

Kulağa pek sağlıklı gelmese de bu para kazanma yolu sayesinde her ay binlerce insan denek olarak güzel paralar kazanmaktadır. Daha çok piyasaya yeni çıkacak bir kozmetik ürünü veya ilacı deneyerek aylık ortalama 2.000 TL’ye yakın bir gelir elde edebilirsiniz. Aylık ücretiniz denek olduğunuz ürünün barındırdığı riske ve deneme süresine göre değişkenlik gösterecektir. Bu konuda detaylı bilgi için “Denek Olmak ” başlıklı yazımızı ziyaret edebilirsiniz.

HAPPINESS AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING

Happiness has been a topic of interest for many centuries, starting with Ancient Greek philosophy, post-Enlightenment Western-European moral philosophy (especially Utilitarianism) to current quality-of-life and well-being research in social, political and economic sciences. Nowadays, happiness as a concept seems to be readily embraced by the majority of people and appears to be more valued than the pursuit of money, moral goodness or going to heaven. Not surprisingly, during the past thirty years and especially since the creation of positive psychology, psychology too has turned its attention towards the study of happiness and well-being.

There are several reasons why the field of well-being is flourishing at the moment:

• First of all, Western countries have achieved a sufficient level of affluence, so that survival is no longer a central factor in people's lives. Quality of life is becoming more important than matters of economic prosperity.
• Personal happiness is becoming more and more important because of growing trends towards individualism.
• Finally, a number of valid and reliable measures have been developed, which have allowed the study of well-being to establish itself as a serious and recognised discipline.

Who is happy?

The answer is simple but a little unexpected - almost everyone. The collated results of 916 surveys of 1.1 million people in 45 nations show that, on a scale of 0 to 10, the average score was 6.75. So, people are generally more happy than they are unhappy. Between 84 and 89% of Americans, for example, score themselves above neutral in happiness inventories. The majority of countries are well above the neutral point, with the exception of former Soviet bloc countries (e.g. Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Latvia) where the average is somewhere close to 5 on a 10-point scale.

Who is not happy?

Certain groups usually have the lowest level of happiness, including: those who have recently lost their partners, new therapy clients, hospitalised alcoholics, new inmates and students under political repression.

Why is it good to be happy?

The common-sense answer to this question is that happiness is good because it feels good. However, research evidence demonstrates that there are other benefits too: positive affect and well-being lead to sociability, better health, success, self-regulation and helping behaviour.

Interestingly, well-being enhances creativity and divergent thinking. It appears that happiness, similarly to positive affect, stimulates playing with new ideas. New research has also shown that happy people persist longer at a task that is not very enjoyable in itself (tell your boss that only the happiest employees should be attending boring meetings!), are better at multi-tasking and are more systematic and attentive.

What is even more fascinating is that well-being is associated with longevity. One study analysed the application letters of nuns entering convents at the age of 18 for expressions of happiness. It's important to note that all of these nuns had a very similar, moderate lifestyle - they didn't smoke or drink, had a balanced diet and worked as teachers. The results indicated that happiness expressed in these letters at the age of 18 predicted life duration. Years later, at the age of 85, 90% of nuns whose happiness was in the upper quarter were still alive compared to 34% of those who were least happy. Even at the age of 94, over half (54%) of the happiest nuns were still alive, while only 11% of those whose happiness fell into the lowest quarter were still living. So it looks like happiness can buy you an extra 9.4 years of life!

What happiness really is, or the science of subjective well-being

There is a big debate in psychology about whether happiness can and should be measured objectively or subjectively. Some argue that it cannot possibly be measured objectively because none of the obvious behaviours can be linked to happiness in a reliable manner. Even an outgoing and friendly appearance, which is so frequently observed among happy people, can be put on as a mask by those who are unhappy. Others, however, including Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, believe in the objective assessment of happiness, which could be gathered from averaged out multiple assessments of people's moods over a period of time. This way, a happiness assessment would not need to be tied to memory and retrospective accounts. Nevertheless, the subjective paradigm appears to prevail at the moment, and this is what I'll be focusing on here.

You might have noticed that, so far in this chapter, I seem to be using the words ‘happiness' and ‘well-being' interchangeably. This is because the notion of subjective well-being (SWB) is used in research literature as a substitute for the term ‘happiness'. It encompasses how people evaluate their own lives in terms of cognitive and affective explanations, and can be represented in the following way:

SWB = SATISFACTION WITH LIFE + AFFECT

The first, cognitive part of subjective well-being is expressed by life satisfaction. Life satisfaction represents one's assessment of one's own life. One is satisfied when there is little or no discrepancy between the present and what is thought to be an ideal or deserved situation. On the other hand, dissatisfaction is a result of a substantial discrepancy between present conditions and the ideal standard. Dissatisfaction can also be a result of comparing oneself with others.

Affect represents the emotional side of SWB. The notion of affect comprises both positive and negative moods and emotions that are associated with our everyday experiences.

Even though common sense would suggest that we should feel most happy if we experience the maximum amount of intense positive affect and not very frequent negative affect, researchers demonstrate that this is not the case. They show that, whilst it is very important to experience positive affect often, the intense positive affect is not necessary for well-being. It appears that intense positive emotions usually come at a price, as they are often followed by periods of low affect. Also they can negatively effect the evaluation of subsequent (usually less intense) positive experiences.

Back to practical matters - can we raise our subjective well-being?

A number of theories say that it is impossible to permanently change someone's level of happiness. One of these theories, the so-called ‘Zero-sum', says that happiness is cyclical and that happy and unhappy periods follow each other. Any attempt to increase happiness will soon be nullified by a consequent unhappy period. Another theory claims that happiness is a fixed characteristic and is, therefore, not open to change, although happiness is not quite as stable during adolescence and early adulthood and can be affected by major life changes. Therefore, it is more likely that happiness ‘tends to get' fixed, rather than being fixed from the very beginning.

Adaptation theory predicts that although happiness reacts at negative and positive life events, it returns to its baseline shortly afterwards. Lottery winners soon revert to their normal level of well-being, and paraplegics and quadriplegics also seem to adjust to their conditions and nearly come back to their previous level of well-being. It has been discovered that only life events which occurred during the past two or three months influence well-being. However, despite the evidence that people get adjusted to both lottery winning and spinal injuries, there are certain conditions (such as widowhood, loneliness and injustice) to which people never adjust completely.

What is important for happiness and what is not?

If you had to guess, which ones of the following would you say are important for happiness: money, friends, having children, getting married, looks, health, moving to a better climate? Is your age important? What about your level of education? The safety of your community? Common sense predicts that the most likely source of satisfaction with life is objective circumstances but often this is not the case. There is very little relationship between happiness and many life circumstances we consider so important that we would sacrifice years of our lives in order to have them. Compare your thoughts with the table on the next page, which summarises the research findings on the correlates of happiness, and see whether you've got it right.

A word of warning here - unravelling causes and effects is not easy. Although these correlates are often considered to be the causes of happiness, they may as well be its consequences. For example, it may be that having good friends brings happiness or that those who are happy attract good friends.

Happiness and relationships

Diener and Seligman in their study of exceptionally happy people (the upper 10% of 222 college students) found only one main difference between the happiest and the rest of the students. The very happy people had a rich and fulfilling social life. They spent the least time alone, had good relationships with friends and had a current romantic partner. They did not have fewer negative and more positive events, nor differed on the amount of sleep, TV watching, exercise, smoking, drinking, etc.

Marriage usually leads to a rapid increase in SWB, which, unfortunately, comes down after a while. However, it does not return to the starting point, but stays at a higher level than before. So marriage changes the set point of SWB, although this change is not large. However, if your relationship is on the rocks, you are likely to be less happy than people who are unmarried or divorced.

The truth as research knows it

SWB is related to:	SWB is not really related to:
Optimism	Age (although there are somewhat contradictory findings in this respect)
Extraversion	Physical attractiveness
Social connections, i.e. close friendships	Money (once the basic needs are met, the difference between the very rich & alright is negligible)
Being married (marriage still scores better than cohabiting, although the latter is picking up as a predictor of SWB in individualistic societies)	Gender (women are more often depressed but also more often joyful)
Having engaging work	Education level
Religion or spirituality	Having children (see the next page for further clarification)
Leisure	Moving to a sunnier climate (in fact, moving to Australia will increase your SWB only by 1-2 %)
Good sleep & exercise	Crime prevention
Social class (through lifestyle differences & better coping methods)	Housing
Subjective health (what you think about your health)	Objective health (what doctors say)

Interesting facts about well-being

• In three months, the effects of being fired or promoted lose their impact on happiness level.
• Winning the lottery often leaves people less happy.
• Real income has risen dramatically in the prosperous nations over the last 50 years, but levels of SWB have stayed flat.
• Recent changes in an individual's pay predict job satisfaction, but average levels of pay do not.
• People in wealthy nations appear to be much happier than in poorer ones but this finding does not hold true for some nations (e.g. Brazil).
• Desiring wealth leaves one less happy.
• People who go to church are happier and live longer, although this may be explained by the social support that belonging to a religious community gives to people.
• Having children does not make you happier and having under fives and teenagers actually makes you less happy. Saying that, having children can make your life more meaningful, and also parents tend to live longer.
• Watching soap operas enhances well-being.
• Happiness is partly innate.
• All objective life circumstances combined account for not more than 10% of variance in well-being.

Seligman introduces the happiness formula: H = S+C+V, where H stands for happiness, S for a set range, C for the circumstances and V for the factors under voluntary control. S is a genetically determined level of happiness, which remains relatively stable through the life span and returns to its original point soon after the majority of significant life events. It determines happiness up to about 50%. C is the circumstances we've already considered (and accounts for about 10%). So, if you want to be happy, get married, join a church but don't bother about making more money, staying healthy, getting educated or moving to a sunnier climate. Finally, factors under voluntary control (V) refer to intentional and effortful practices a person can choose to engage in (which account for about 40%).

Hair loss

Introduction 

Alopecia is the general medical term for hair loss. There are many types of hair loss with different symptoms and causes.

Some of the more common types of hair loss are described below, including:

• male- and female-pattern baldness 
• alopecia areata
• scarring alopecia
• anagen effluvium
• telogen effluvium

Male- and female-pattern baldness

Male-pattern baldness is the most common type of hair loss, affecting around half of all men by 50 years of age. It usually starts around the late twenties or early thirties and most men have some degree of hair loss by their late thirties.

It generally follows a pattern of a receding hairline, followed by thinning of the hair on the crown and temples, leaving a horseshoe shape around the back and sides of the head. Sometimes it can progress to complete baldness, although this is uncommon.

Male-pattern baldness is hereditary, which means it runs in families. It's thought to be caused by oversensitive hair follicles, linked to having too much of a certain male hormone.

As well as affecting men, it can sometimes affect women (female-pattern baldness). During female-pattern baldness, hair usually only thins on top of the head.

It's not clear if female-pattern baldness is hereditary and the causes are less well understood. However, it tends to be more noticeable in women who have been through the menopause (when a woman's periods stop at around age 52), perhaps because they have fewer female hormones.

Alopecia areata

Alopecia areata causes patches of baldness about the size of a large coin. They usually appear on the scalp but can occur anywhere on the body. It can occur at any age, but mostly affects teenagers and young adults.

In most cases of alopecia areata, hair will grow back in a few months. At first, hair may grow back fine and white, but over time it should thicken and regain its normal colour. Some people go on to develop a more severe form of hair loss, such as:

• alopecia totalis (no scalp hair)
• alopecia universalis (no hair on the scalp and body)

Alopecia areata is caused by a problem with the immune system (the body's natural defence against infection and illness). It's more common among people with other autoimmune conditions, such as anoveractive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), diabetes or Down's syndrome.

It's also believed some people's genes make them more susceptible to alopecia areata, as one in five people with the condition have a family history of the condition.

Alopecia areata can occur at any age, although it's more common in people aged 15-29. It affects one or two people in every 1,000 in the UK.

Scarring alopecia 

Scarring alopecia, also known as cicatricial alopecia, is usually caused by complications of another condition. In this type of alopecia, the hair follicle (the small hole in your skin that an individual hair grows out of) is completely destroyed. This means your hair won't grow back.

Depending on the condition, the skin where the hair has fallen out is likely to be affected in some way.

Conditions which can cause scarring alopecia include:

• scleroderma – a condition affecting the body's connective (supporting) tissues, resulting in hard, puffy and itchy skin
• lichen planus – an itchy rash affecting many areas of the body
• discoid lupus – a mild form of lupus affecting the skin, causing scaly marks and hair loss
• folliculitis decalvans – a rare form of alopecia that most commonly affects men, causing baldness and scarring of the affected areas
• frontal fibrosing alopecia – a type of alopecia that affects post-menopausal women where the hair follicles are damaged, and the hair falls out and is unable to grow back

Scarring alopecia occurs in both males and females, but is less common in children than adults. It accounts for about 7% of hair loss cases.

Anagen effluvium

Anagen effluvium is widespread hair loss that can affect your scalp, face and body.

One of the most common causes of this type of hair loss is the cancer treatment chemotherapy. In some cases, other cancer treatments – including immunotherapy and radiotherapy – may also cause hair loss.

The hair loss is usually noticeable within a few weeks of starting treatment. However, not all chemotherapy drugs cause hair loss and sometimes the hair loss is so small it's hardly noticeable.

It may be possible to reduce hair loss from chemotherapy by wearing a special cap that keeps the scalp cool. However, scalp cooling is not always effective and not widely available.

In most cases, hair loss in anagen effluvium is temporary. Your hair should start to grow back a few months after chemotherapy has stopped.

Telogen effluvium

Telogen effluvium is a common type of alopecia where there is widespread thinning of the hair, rather than specific bald patches. Your hair may feel thinner, but you're unlikely to lose it all and your other body hair isn't usually affected.

Telogen effluvium can be caused by your body reacting to:

• hormonal changes, such as those that take place when a woman is pregnant
• intense emotional stress
• intense physical stress, such as childbirth
• a short-term illness, such as a severe infection or an operation
• a long-term illness, such as cancer or liver disease
• changes in your diet, such as crash dieting
• some medications, such as anticoagulants (medicines that reduce the ability of your blood to clot) or beta-blockers (used to treat a number of conditions, such as high blood pressure)

In most cases of telogen effluvium, your hair will stop falling out and start to grow back within six months.

How is hair loss treated?

More common types of hair loss, such as male-pattern baldness, don't need treatment because they're a natural part of ageing and don't pose a risk to your health.

However, any type of hair loss can be distressing, so you should see your GP if you're worried about it.

Your GP should be able to diagnose your type of hair loss by examining your hair. They can also discuss possible treatments with you so it's advisable to visit your GP before trying a private consultant dermatologist (skin care specialist).

If you want treatment for male-pattern baldness for cosmetic reasons, two medications called finasteride and minoxidil can be used. Minoxidil can also be used to treat female-pattern baldness.

However, these treatments don't work for everyone and only work for as long as they're continued. They are not available on the NHS and can be expensive.

Alopecia areata is usually treated with steroid injections, although it's sometimes possible to use a steroid cream, gel or ointment. A treatment called immunotherapy may also be used. This involves stimulating hair growth by causing an intentional allergic reaction in the affected areas of skin.

If you have significant hair loss of any type, you may decide to wear a wig. Wigs are available on the NHS, but you may have to pay unless you qualify for help with charges.

There are also some surgical options for hair loss, including a hair transplant and artificial hair implants.

Read more about treating hair loss.

Emotional issues

Hair loss can be difficult to come to terms with. The hair on your head can be a defining part of your identity. If you start to lose your hair, it can feel as if you're losing part of your identity. This can affect your self-confidence and sometimes lead to depression.

Speak to your GP if you're finding it difficult to deal with your hair loss. They may suggest counselling. You may also benefit from joining a support group or speaking to other people in the same situation – for example, through online forums.

A number of charities, such as Alopecia UK, have support groups and online forums where you can talk to others who are experiencing hair loss.

speed-reading

Speed reading is any of several techniques used to improve one's ability to read quickly. Speed reading methods include chunking and minimizing subvocalization. The many available speed reading training programs include books, videos, software, and seminars.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1History
• 2Methods
  • 2.1Skimming and Scanning
  • 2.2Meta guiding
• 3Types of Reading
• 4Effect on comprehension
• 5Software
• 6Controversies in speed reading
• 7See also
• 8References
• 9Footnotes
• 10External links

History[edit]

Psychologists and educational specialists working on visual acuity used a tachistoscope to conclude^[1] that, with training, an average person could identify minute images flashed on the screen for only one five-hundredth of a second (2 ms). Though the images used were of airplanes, the results had implications for reading.^{[citation needed]}

It was not until the late 1950s that a portable, reliable and convenient device would be developed as a tool for increasing reading speed. Evelyn Wood, a researcher and schoolteacher, was committed to understanding why some people were naturally faster at reading and tried to force herself to read very quickly. In 1958, while brushing off the pages of a book she had thrown down in despair, she discovered that the sweeping motion of her hand across the page caught the attention of her eyes, and helped them move more smoothly across the page. She then used the hand as a pacer. Wood first taught the method at the University of Utah, before launching it to the public as Evelyn Wood's Reading Dynamics in Washington, D.C. in 1959.^[2]

Methods[edit]

Skimming and Scanning[edit]

Skimming is a process of speed reading that involves visually searching the sentences of a page for clues to meaning. For some people, this comes naturally, but is usually acquired by practice. Skimming is usually seen more in adults than in children. It is conducted at a higher rate (700 words per minute and above) than normal reading for comprehension (around 200–230 wpm), and results in lower comprehension rates,^[3] especially with information-rich reading material. Scanning is the process where one actively looks for information using a mind-map (organizing information in a visually hierarchical manner that showcases the interrelatedness of the information for better retrievability) formed from skimming. These techniques are used by meta-guiding your eyes.

Meta guiding[edit]

Meta guiding is the visual guiding of the eye using a finger or pointer, such as a pen, in order for the eye to move faster along the length of a passage of text. It involves drawing invisible shapes on a page of text in order to broaden the visual span for speed reading. For example, an audience of customers at a speed reading seminar will be instructed to use a finger or pen to make these shapes on a page and told that this will speed up their visual cortex, increase their visual span to take in the whole line, and even imprint the information into their subconscious for later retrieval. It has also been claimed to reduce subvocalization (saying words in your head rather than grasping the idea), thereby speeding up reading. Because this encourages the eye to skim over the text, it can reduce comprehension and memory, and lead to missing important details of the text. An emphasis on viewing each word, albeit briefly, is required for this method to be effective. E.g. S movement and Z movement^{[clarification needed]}

Speed reading is a skill honed through practice. Reading a text involves comprehension of the material. In speed reading practice this is done through multiple reading processes: preview, overview, read, review and recite; and by read and recall (recording through writing a short summary or a mental outline) exercises. Another important method for better comprehension is the SQ3R process. These processes help an individual to retain most of the presented ideas from a reading material. A better focus in comprehension is through a better reading process with good understanding of the topic.^{[clarification needed]}

Types of Reading[edit]

Types of reading greatly affect the speed of reading, each of us wired differently from the environmental influences. Many have learned to read word by word from grade school, and never have taught or informed the need to improve upon that method. When reading word by word, our eyes often skip back to a previous word or line. We might also fixate on a single word even after it has been read. These mechanical issues slow us down while reading and comprehending.

There are 3 types of reading

1. Mental reading (Subvocalization): sounding out each word internally, as reading to yourself. This is the slowest form of reading.
2. Auditory reading: hearing out the read words. This is a faster process.
3. Visual reading: understanding the meaning of the word, rather than sounding or hearing. This is the fastest process.

Mental readers generally read at approximately 250 words per minute. Auditory readers read at approximately 450 words per minute. Visual readers read at approximately 700 words per minute. Visual reading is a skill that can be developed through continuous training and practice.

Irrespective of the type being applied, scientific studies have demonstrated that reading—defined here as capturing and decoding all the words on every page—faster than 900 wpm is not possible.^[4] This speed limit was derived from the following measurements:

1. The shortest recorded fixation period (approximately a sixth of a second).
2. The shortest recorded period between fixations (approximately one-thirtieth of a second).
3. The maximum recorded number of words that the eye can see in a single fixation (approximately three words ).

Utilizing the above three measurements together, it was established that a ten-word line of four inches could be processed, as defined above, at a rate of at most 900 wpm.

Reading at speeds higher than 900 wpm is therefore considered as skimming.

Effect on comprehension[edit]

Skimming alone may not be ideal when complete comprehension of the text is the main objective. Skimming is mainly used when researching and getting an overall idea of the text. Nonetheless, when time is limited, skimming or skipping over text can aid comprehension. Duggan & Payne (2009) compared skimming with reading normally, given only enough time to read normally through half of a text. They found that the main points of the full text were better understood after skimming (which could view the full text) than after normal reading (which only read half the text). There was no difference between the groups in their understanding of less important information from the text.^[5]

In contrast, other findings suggest that speed reading courses which teach techniques that largely constitute skimming of written text result in a lower comprehension rate (below 50% comprehension on standardized comprehension tests) (Carver 1992).^[6] Hyo Sang Shin (2012) in his book "Visual Reading and the Snowball of Understanding" claims that increasing one's reading speed does not lead to decreased comprehension. On the contrary, he argues that the faster the reading speed the better the comprehension. That phenomenon is described by Shin (2012) as a non zero-sum game between the reading speed and comprehension.

Software[edit]

Eye exercise for speed reading

Computer programs are available to help instruct speed reading students. Some programs present the data as a serial stream, since the brain handles text more efficiently by breaking it into such a stream before parsing and interpreting it.^{[citation needed]} The 2000 National Reading Panel (NRP) report (p. 3-1) seems to support such a mechanism.

To increase speed, some older programs required readers to view the center of the screen while the lines of text around it grew longer. They also presented several objects (instead of text) moving line by line or bouncing around the screen; users had to follow the object(s) with only their eyes. A number of researchers criticize using objects instead of words as an effective training method, claiming that the only way to read faster is to read actual text. Many of the newer speed reading programs use built-in text, and they primarily guide users through the lines of an on-screen book at defined speeds. Often the text is highlighted to indicate where users should focus their eyes; they are not expected to read by pronouncing the words, but instead to read by viewing the words as complete images. The exercises are also intended to train readers to eliminate subvocalization, though it has not been proven that this will increase reading speed.

Controversies in speed reading[edit]

Common controversies in speed reading are between its intent and nature with traditional concepts like Comprehension vs Speed; Reading vs Skimming; Popular psychology vs Evidence-based psychology. Much controversy is raised over this point. This is mainly because a reading comprehension level of 50% is deemed unusable by some educationalists (Carver 1992). Speed reading advocates claim that it is a great success and even state that it is a demonstration of good comprehension for many purposes (Buzan 2000). The trade-off between "speed" and comprehension must be analyzed with respect to the type of reading that is being done, the risks associated with mis-understanding due to low comprehension, and the benefits associated with getting through the material quickly and gaining information at the actual rate it is obtained.

Jimmy Carter and his daughter Amyparticipate in a speed reading course.

U.S. President John F. Kennedy was a proponent of speed reading^[7] and encouraged his staff to take lessons. U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and his wife Rosalynn, were both avid readers and enrolled in a speed-reading course at the White House,^[8] along with several staff members.

The World Championship Speed Reading Competition stresses reading comprehension as critical. The top contestants typically read around 1,000 to 2,000 words per minute with approximately 50% comprehension or above. The world champion is Anne Jones with 4,700 words per minute with 67% comprehension. The 10,000 word/min claimants have yet to reach this level.^{[citation needed]}

A critical discussion about speed reading stories appeared in Slate. Among others, the article raises doubts about the origin of John F. Kennedy's allegedly amazing reading speed. Ronald Carver, a professor of education research and psychology, claims that the fastest college graduate readers can only read about 600 words per minute, at most twice as fast as their slowest counterparts.^[9] Other critics have suggested that speed reading is actually skimming, not reading.^[10]