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Body Punishment: OCD, Addiction, and Finding the Courage to Heal
Humor columnist Maggie Lamond Simone's painful journey provides insight for the thousands of others who similarly cut, starve, pick, drink, pluck, purge, and otherwise hurt themselves in private in order to survive in public. She explores the issues of substance abuse, anxiety, and depression that commonly occur with OCD, all in an effort to further the dialog around mental illness and eliminate the shame, because "the shame . . . the shame is a killer." Maggie Lamond Simone is an award-winning columnist and author. Her first column anthology, From Beer to Maternity , was released in November 2009. She has a black belt in Kenpo karate and a master's degree from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
192 pages, Paperback
First published March 23, 2015
3 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Lamond Simone
4 books16 followersMAGGIE LAMOND SIMONE is a national award-winning columnist and author. Her memoir, “Body Punishment: OCD, Addiction and Finding the Courage to Heal,” was released in April 2015 (Central Recovery Press), earning her a spot at the 2015 BEA in New York City. Her essay collection, “From Beer to Maternity,” was a 2010 USA Book News Finalist for humor, and her columns can also be found in “The Zen of Midlife Mothering” (2013), “Not Your Mother’s Book on Do-It-Yourselfers” (2013), “P.S. What I Didn’t Say” (2009), “Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Resolution” (2008), “Chicken Soup for the New Mom’s Soul” (2007), “Chicken Soup for the Soul in Menopause” (2007), “Misadventures of Moms and Disasters of Dads” (2004), “Hello, Goodbye” (2004), Cosmopolitan magazine, and Notebook: Magazine (Australia). She also has an e-book, “POSTED! Parenting, Pets and Menopause, One Status Update at a Time” (2011).
Her humor and observational essays have appeared since 2002 in Family Times, The Parenting Guide of Central New York, an award-winning monthly parenting magazine. Her columns also appeared in the Sunday edition of the Syracuse Herald American (cir. 250,000) from 1995 through 2001. She’s won multiple national awards through Parenting Publications of America, including multiple Gold Awards for Humor and for Personal Essay.
Ms. Simone has been a monthly guest on WNTQ-Syracuse (93Q) since 2005, and she has also been a guest on NPR. She was a frequent panelist on the local PBS affiliate’s monthly “Media Roundtable.” In promoting “From Beer to Maternity” and “Body Punishment,” she has been featured on the ABC, Fox and PBS affiliates nationwide, as well as numerous radio programs in the United States, Canada and the UK. She is an adjunct professor in the department of communications at SUNY Oswego, Oswego, N.Y. and Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, N.Y., and a blogger for The Huffington Post.
She is a graduate of Hobart and William Smith College (Geneva, N.Y.) and Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University (Syracuse, N.Y.). She lives in Central New York with her husband and two children.
Her humor and observational essays have appeared since 2002 in Family Times, The Parenting Guide of Central New York, an award-winning monthly parenting magazine. Her columns also appeared in the Sunday edition of the Syracuse Herald American (cir. 250,000) from 1995 through 2001. She’s won multiple national awards through Parenting Publications of America, including multiple Gold Awards for Humor and for Personal Essay.
Ms. Simone has been a monthly guest on WNTQ-Syracuse (93Q) since 2005, and she has also been a guest on NPR. She was a frequent panelist on the local PBS affiliate’s monthly “Media Roundtable.” In promoting “From Beer to Maternity” and “Body Punishment,” she has been featured on the ABC, Fox and PBS affiliates nationwide, as well as numerous radio programs in the United States, Canada and the UK. She is an adjunct professor in the department of communications at SUNY Oswego, Oswego, N.Y. and Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, N.Y., and a blogger for The Huffington Post.
She is a graduate of Hobart and William Smith College (Geneva, N.Y.) and Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University (Syracuse, N.Y.). She lives in Central New York with her husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 30, 2024
Want to remember this one. The following is a probably incoherent collection of all of my thoughts having finished this book. Do with that what you will.
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Man. I read this book in 24 hours. This includes a it being a work day. I’ve spent the greater part of almost 2 years, I think, trying to find this book. Not *this* book, specifically, but the context of this book. Even in not-book form. Any type of media, article, Reddit post, OCD hashtags on every applicable social media account. Most of the people in my life are aware that I have OCD, however, very few know what that actually entails, as OCD really operates on a case to case basis. In fact, I would say not a single person really knows. Most don’t ask, and I very rarely disclose, largely because with never being able to find a single other source to relate to, I’ve just kind of felt Super Crazy for years, and having been seeing an OCD & EMDR therapist for over a year now, I function mostly fine. The rest of this doesn’t necessarily have spoilers, as the Author is almost entirely self-disclosed within the first chapter, but it does contain aspects of the book content, also very likely some of my own unnecessary self-disclosure - we’re not thinking, only typing, so, yeah.
Maggie, now in her 50s, is a recovering alcoholic with Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder. Her obsessions & compulsions started early in her childhood, as it often does, and she kept her thoughts & behaviors entirely secret for the majority of her life. Commonly known OCD themes (obsessions) include things like Contamination, Symmetry, and Organization-related things. Commonly known compulsions would include incessant hand-washing (often past the point of scabbing), re-organizing a bookshelf 20 times because It Will Never Be Fucking Straight Enough, and color coordinating. One of Maggie’s earliest compulsions is to hurt herself. She specifically has Trichotillomania and picks at scabs all over her body. (This specifically is the Thing Nobody Talks About: The compulsion to harm yourself. You can find books about self harm. You can find books about OCD. It has been virtually impossible to find one about BOTH.) I’ll leave that at that. She also begins using alcohol to cope with her OCD at a really young age. 14, if I remember correctly. I was 12, although I wouldn’t say it crossed into Maladaptive Mechanism territory until the end of 2016. Anyway. She also struggles with disordered eating - which is both somehow tied to and not tied to her OCD. Starving for control over absolutely fucking anything, vomiting up the guilt of not having enough self control to just starve yourself.
Anyway, I relate to every single one of those things to some extent. It’s also a unique feeling newly knowing that you for sure are not 100% just defective, because someone else DOES exist. That’s all for today on Patricia Has Conversations With Herself On GoodReads.
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Man. I read this book in 24 hours. This includes a it being a work day. I’ve spent the greater part of almost 2 years, I think, trying to find this book. Not *this* book, specifically, but the context of this book. Even in not-book form. Any type of media, article, Reddit post, OCD hashtags on every applicable social media account. Most of the people in my life are aware that I have OCD, however, very few know what that actually entails, as OCD really operates on a case to case basis. In fact, I would say not a single person really knows. Most don’t ask, and I very rarely disclose, largely because with never being able to find a single other source to relate to, I’ve just kind of felt Super Crazy for years, and having been seeing an OCD & EMDR therapist for over a year now, I function mostly fine. The rest of this doesn’t necessarily have spoilers, as the Author is almost entirely self-disclosed within the first chapter, but it does contain aspects of the book content, also very likely some of my own unnecessary self-disclosure - we’re not thinking, only typing, so, yeah.
Maggie, now in her 50s, is a recovering alcoholic with Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder. Her obsessions & compulsions started early in her childhood, as it often does, and she kept her thoughts & behaviors entirely secret for the majority of her life. Commonly known OCD themes (obsessions) include things like Contamination, Symmetry, and Organization-related things. Commonly known compulsions would include incessant hand-washing (often past the point of scabbing), re-organizing a bookshelf 20 times because It Will Never Be Fucking Straight Enough, and color coordinating. One of Maggie’s earliest compulsions is to hurt herself. She specifically has Trichotillomania and picks at scabs all over her body. (This specifically is the Thing Nobody Talks About: The compulsion to harm yourself. You can find books about self harm. You can find books about OCD. It has been virtually impossible to find one about BOTH.) I’ll leave that at that. She also begins using alcohol to cope with her OCD at a really young age. 14, if I remember correctly. I was 12, although I wouldn’t say it crossed into Maladaptive Mechanism territory until the end of 2016. Anyway. She also struggles with disordered eating - which is both somehow tied to and not tied to her OCD. Starving for control over absolutely fucking anything, vomiting up the guilt of not having enough self control to just starve yourself.
Anyway, I relate to every single one of those things to some extent. It’s also a unique feeling newly knowing that you for sure are not 100% just defective, because someone else DOES exist. That’s all for today on Patricia Has Conversations With Herself On GoodReads.
February 24, 2023
There were moments where I felt a kinship with the author as we've been through the same hardships and are still struggling, but these times were few and in my opinion, sandwiched between large sections of superficial, trivial, and sometimes just irritating text. There are long passages of childhood anecdotes not particularly linked to OCD, nor is it explored in any helpful way (such as with her tips or coping mechanisms other than alcohol). I got quite bored in some sections as she seemed to just complain about story after story.
I wouldn't recommend this book other than to tell someone with OCD that someone else has it and has written about it
I wouldn't recommend this book other than to tell someone with OCD that someone else has it and has written about it
December 18, 2022
Unfortunately, this one didn’t really do it for me. I liked the beginning, and the anecdotes about the writer’s childhood. Maybe I was expecting more insight on her OCD rather than what felt more surface-level, or maybe it was just a bit too simplistic. Perhaps I shouldn’t have read it all in one sitting, maybe that contributed to me feeling pretty mediocre about it. Maggie Simone isn’t a bad writer by any means, but I just didn’t get what I wanted out of this book.
January 16, 2020
Very enlightening; teaching me I'm not alone with my OCD.
April 16, 2020
Truly changed my life. Highly recommended read for anyone who's life has been impacted by OCD.
January 10, 2017
This book hit home for me a bit. My husband suffers from a milder form of OCD. Well he keeps most of his symptoms to himself (like the author did) but one of his symptoms he does share with me is his incessant counting.
The term OCD is tossed around a lot and people use it in a joking manner. Think of all the “Funny” memes you see on the topic on social media. The truth is OCD is a very serious mental illness that is no joking matter.
It is a mental illness that does not get talked about much because those that suffer from it do not always discuss it with anyone, including therapists. If left untreated it can destroy your life.
I commend the author for not only getting out of her comfort zone to seek treatment but to also put herself out there and write this book.
I hope the book helps others to understand the illness and help those that suffer have the courage to seek treatment.
The term OCD is tossed around a lot and people use it in a joking manner. Think of all the “Funny” memes you see on the topic on social media. The truth is OCD is a very serious mental illness that is no joking matter.
It is a mental illness that does not get talked about much because those that suffer from it do not always discuss it with anyone, including therapists. If left untreated it can destroy your life.
I commend the author for not only getting out of her comfort zone to seek treatment but to also put herself out there and write this book.
I hope the book helps others to understand the illness and help those that suffer have the courage to seek treatment.
May 28, 2015
Fantastic read!
June 19, 2015
I read many books on mental illness, addiction, etc. and this was one of my favorites. The format was neat, and I felt as though the author was telling my story in many ways.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews