Items such as stoves, toasters,tv's, irons etc would be plugged in to a box which is then plugged in to a wall outlet/plug .This device could tell if the item was turned off or not.It would have a speaker with a button near it which the person with ocd could push to check if the item was turned off or not.It would proclaim in a loud voice"THE STOVE IS TURNED OFF!! It's not a cure,but it might help.Yes I do have O.C.D.-- python, Aug 27 2004 My relief person has severe OCD and it often takes him an hour to leave after shift end. He has to check every locked cabinet and door, then come back and do it again. I started working with him and we now do a "19-count" where we check everything in order while counting up. At the end, I jingle the keys and start singing "Jingle Bells", loudly. It seems to have worked and he now gets out in 5 minutes and doesn't drive back or call, hours later, to see if he forgot anything.
The only thing wrong with this idea, that I can see, is that for severe OCD, it would drive anyone else in the house mad with a loud voice screaming "THE STOVE IS TURNED OFF" 900 times during the night.
I don't know how that would work with the 4 paranoid schizophrenics that I have in my house. [+/-]-- Klaatu, Aug 27 2004 good idea.-- GutPunchLullabies, Aug 27 2004 Not Funny [GPL].[python], the serious question is: 'Could you trust the speaker device?'.My experience with a similar chap (as per [klaatu]) was that you could confirm all the closures/turnings off but would still have to reassure him 1 mile down the road.-- gnomethang, Aug 27 2004 could it send you a text message to your mobile? +1-- po, Aug 27 2004 Funny, just the other day I was thinking about a webcam on the iron plug so I could check it from work...-- Etymon, Aug 27 2004 In the old days, before there was a definition for OCD, we just used clipboards and manual check lists. Seemed to work. Saved a lot of anxiety. Check this one off my list.-- jurist, Aug 27 2004 Didn't mean to be offensive, all in fun. Feel free to delete my crude humor if it bothers you.-- GutPunchLullabies, Aug 27 2004 Great idea.-- DesertFox, Aug 27 2004 Is the Internet hollow? I keep hearing these echoes.
Further: I'm no psychologist, but is enabling OCD tendancies the right course of action?-- Aude Sapere, Aug 28 2004 Let me consult my clipboard.-- jurist, Aug 28 2004 Wouldn't you always wonder if the "thing that tells you about the status" is working correctly? Why not leave everything switched on, on purpose? Then you might not have to check it, since you wouldn't care if it is on or off.-- Ling, Aug 28 2004 Web enable the box, and the OCs of the world could check it online every minute or so.-- DrCurry, Aug 28 2004 [gutpunch]laughed my head off.[Aude]Enabling is of course not the answer, but it is better than nothing and in some cases it does help.[Ling]The whole point is to make sure everything is turned off.If the stove iron, toaster etc are still on when you leave, the whole place could burn down.Or so we believe.-- python, Aug 30 2004 Not just a solution for OCD sufferers, also for the perennially forgetful. Instead of one button on the wall, they'd all be linked together via bluetooth to the door handle. As you leave the house, you turn the handle, everything is checked, and a voice announces "you've left the bathroom light on, the kitchen window is open, and my sensor isn't picking up your house keys (i.e. you're about to lock yourself out - though if you hang them by the door this wouldn't help).-- jklawrence, Jun 05 2006 random, halfbakery