This stems from a recently posted idea. I have a slight OCD, I go back and forth to my car to make sure its locked as well as the door to my house.
The first part is to identify the problem. For me i do not check a billion times to see if i have my wallet or keys. The problem is locking doors.
The solution. A Programmable speaker that tells you in a calming, but audible, voice that you did all those things. You place the system at the origin of the problem. That would be, for instance, the doorway.
You type into the program a series of sentences. "You locked the door, have a very productive day". Or "your car doors are locked, I love you". You set the speaker volume. For me i would want to be able to hear the message from my doorway to my car and again from my car to my doorway.
They system would have to be able to tell if you locked doors or picked up various items. It would come with a series of small rfid tags that you could place in various items. Say I do forget my wallet as i leave the house; the system would know I locked the door but it would also know that the wallet did not pass through the door way. The pleasant voice would then tell you about the issue.
Upon opening up the box you would receive. A wireless speaker (that you could connect to an ac power source), and the computer that I imagine to be a simple touch screen that you could mount to you wall. A series of rfid tags that you could place in your wallet etc..-- Antegrity, Jan 26 2008 no idea if they are alike - just being helpful... OCD_20door_20locks [po, Jan 28 2008] + for the fact that any burglar would also hear the message and be deterred.-- zeno, Jan 26 2008 //But generally, stop trying to drive your life from your conscious mind - it's difficult, inefficient and not the right tool for the job.//
Wise words - it's like running up stairs, if you do it while concentrating on what your feet are doing it's actually quite tricky - let your subconscious take control and everything becomes smooth and effortless.-- zen_tom, Jan 26 2008 tool? what tool? people have a tool? why don't I have one?
damn, I forgot to drink my tea and now its cold.-- po, Jan 26 2008 You shouldn't be drinking tea at this time of night. Don't forget to have a little p before bed.
With regard to OCD, it always puzzled me, and I did an experiment a few years back. I decided to see if I could induce a sort of OCD in myself. I started by waiting 'til I was at the car, and then telling myself I wasn't sure if I'd set the right mode on the burglar alarm (if I set it wrong, the dog triggers it during the day). Of course, I knew I had, but I asked myself how I knew I had, and how I could be sure I hadn't mis-set it as I left. Then I'd go back and check it.
At first it was a very artficial situation - I'd be confident I'd set it correctly, and would have to try to persuade myself that I wasn't sure. After a few days, though, I found myself thinking 'well, actually, you can't be sure', and I'd actually have some motivation to go and check it.
After a couple of weeks, I got bored with this experiment, and stopped trying to make myself unsure about the alarm. But then, when I just wanted to go to work, I found I really *did* have a nagging doubt. I reasoned that, after spending a couple of weeks making myself go back and check the alarm, it might have messed up my routine, and it really would be embarrassing if I'd mis-set the alarm as a result of this dumb experiment. So, I'd go back and check the alarm in earnest.
After another few days, I realized that my experiment had worked. Even though I knew it was an experiment and that I'd been trying to make myself worry, I really couldn't leave the house without going back to check the alarm. I even tried singing myself a little "I've set the alarm correctly today" song as I set the alarm, to make myself remember (when I got to the car) that I'd set it correctly. Absolutely no effect.
It was really weird. I don't know how similar this "induced OCD" was to "real" OCD, but it was very odd. Whatever logical steps I took, some bit of my brain would always find a reason why I needed to go back and check it. (Once, I tried photographing the display on the alarm with my camera phone as I set it, so I could look at the photo when I got to the car. But then I thought 'am I sure I didn't do this yesterday, and I've mis- set the alarm today?').
It was a very interesting experience.
Eventually, I got out of the cycle. I told myself that, even if I had mis-set the alarm, it wasn't the end of the world - the dog would set the alarm off during the day, the alarm company would call my contact person, they'd call me, and I'd go home and sort it out. So, I still had the uncertainty, but didn't act on it. (It was very difficult to resist.) After about three days (during which I was expecting a call at any time, despite having been very careful to 'remember' setting the alarm) the obsession went away.
I have no idea if my experience bears any relation to 'real' OCD, but it was very interesting. Based on this, I'm not sure if a technological solution would work - how can you be sure the software on your OCD-computer doesn't have a glitch?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 26 2008 interesting! thats about the first time in months that I've read a long anno.-- po, Jan 27 2008 OCD happens to me every once in a while, but when it does its very frustrating. I would place an rfid tag in my back pack. Tell the system to say, "You have your back pack, your wallet, your phone your keys, the door is locked have a brilliant day"-- Antegrity, Jan 28 2008 Would that work? I ask only because my attempt at a similar solution (photographing the alarm after I'd set it) didn't work - it was bizarre, because (logically) it should have worked. It's all very curious. I'd be interested to know if you've tried a similar solution, and if it worked.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 28 2008 So, not OCD dissolved in water then...
I can't believe you did that, Max. It strikes me as a very dangerous experiment - minds can be rather fragile.-- wagster, Jan 28 2008 Last time I checked, I no longer have OCD. Just a second...
No, still don't have it. Just a second...-- egbert, Jan 28 2008 //It strikes me as a very dangerous experiment - minds can be rather fragile.// Yes, but it's also interesting to try to understand the ways in which they can go wrong. What was bizarre was that I couldn't really imagine - either before or after the experiment - what OCD would feel like; and yet during the experiment, I couldn't really imagine not feeling anxious in an OCDish way.
However, one thing about psychological experiments is that self- experimentation doesn't really count for much - perception is everything. I'd be interested to know if my experience bears any relation to Antegrity's true OCD.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 28 2008 //No, still don't have it. Just a second...// Excellent!-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 28 2008 How is this very different from my idea, the one you are probably referring to with "This stems from a recently posted idea."? Your difference seems only to be that you've left out the option of purchasing the extra "take it with you" notification feature i included. Oh, and you replaced my LCD readout with a speaker. :)-- ericscottf, Jan 28 2008 link it eric, link it!-- po, Jan 28 2008 I looked at my watch, now am i sure of what date i saw on the lcd readout on the lock? This idea has nothing in common with your idea ericscottf.
Throw in blue tooth technology with my idea and you can have your phone remind you of your present situation.-- Antegrity, Jan 29 2008 My "base" package was where you'd to remember. as listed in my idea, there's the extended package keyfob option which will tell you what happened most recently. I left bluetooth out because i think it is just in things these days so things can "have bluetooth".-- ericscottf, Jan 30 2008 Why do I keep coming back to this idea?-- pertinax, Jan 31 2008 No, I know, it's because there's a full stop at the end of the idea's title, even though it's not a sentence. Phew! For a moment there I thought I might be obsessive.-- pertinax, Jan 31 2008 I don't see any full stop at the end of the title.... have you checked again to see if it's still there?-- xenzag, Jan 31 2008 // in worries that the ketchup bottle or the can of peas may have trace amounts of the cashiers urine on the label.// Yet the fields in which the peas and tomatoes grew will have been peed on by many even stranger forms of wildlife. And if you eat organic food....<shudder>.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 31 2008 ...it'll be organic urine.-- hippo, Jan 31 2008 Quite. None of that nasty zinc- or aluminium-based urine.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 31 2008 Interesting idea, but it doesn't solve OCD completely. There are so many different ways someone has OCD, and this speaker can't help some. This idea may work for this particular OCD, but not OCD in general.
For instance, my OCD is whenever I microwave something, the time always has to end with 3, 6, or 9. How could this invention in any way help with my OCD?-- adf13, Feb 01 2008 We could just make a microwave that wouldn't stop unless the counter is on a multiple of three.
While we're sharing, I write "7" on things with my finger quite a lot. Fix that!-- wagster, Feb 01 2008 <reaches for secateurs>Which finger?</rfs>-- pertinax, Feb 02 2008 I don't really see how your having to end the time on a microwave with a certain number really amount to an OCD that greatly affects your life.
If the thing says to microwave for 1:30 I hit 1:31 because i know its taking that magnetron a bit to fire up. In fact I have found that not ending microwave times on 0 or 5 makes cooking food more entertaining.
5 or 5.0000000001 or 4.999999999. What ever will the food taste like, I DON'T KNOW THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME.-- Antegrity, Feb 02 2008 Is there an opposite of OCD? If so, I have that.
DCD? - Don't Care Disorder LSS? - Lazy Slob Syndrome
We should get our own acronym and support groups. On second thought, forget it, sounds like a hassle.-- bneal27, Mar 17 2008 random, halfbakery