Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/ck0796CM3Sw

Detailed Show Notes (Podcast Episode Summary)

Episode Title:

OCD: Living With the Doubter’s Disease — A Conversation With Chandler Coffman

Episode Overview

In this vulnerable, insightful, and often humorous episode of Wounds, Wisdom & the Word, Doug sits down with Chandler Coffman, a close friend, deep thinker, and practicing theologian, to unpack Chandler’s real-life journey with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The conversation explores what OCD actually is (and what it isn’t), how intrusive thoughts operate, how OCD grows over time, and how healing happens through therapy, medication, honesty, and faith.

This episode will resonate deeply with anyone battling anxiety, OCD, rumination, intrusive thoughts, or a sense of being “alone” in their struggle. Chandler brings clarity, honesty, and theological depth — and Doug brings the grounding, humor, and Scripture-centered compassion this podcast is known for.

Key Themes & Topics Covered

1. Setting the Stage — After Thanksgiving & Holiday Stress

Doug opens by introducing Chandler and explaining why his story “runs deep.” Chandler’s openness about OCD provides a pathway for others to understand their own mental health.

2. Chandler’s Early Life Signals

• Always “extra inquisitive”
• High-strung, anxious, wired
• Rumination beginning in young adulthood
• Living alone in a small apartment near his parents and dealing with isolation
• A medical scare that led to Googling symptoms — a huge trigger that spiraled his OCD

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3. What OCD Actually Is — And What It Isn’t

Chandler clarifies the biggest misconception:

Instead, OCD involves:

• Obsessions: intrusive, unwanted thoughts
• Compulsions: attempts to soothe anxiety caused by those thoughts
• Themes: violence, sexuality, religion, germs, health, etc.
• Rumination: the endless mental replay loop

He describes how OCD can attach to anything, and how sufferers often hyper-focus, cannot “unfocus,” and may become trapped in spirals of fear and doubt.

4. Real Examples of Intrusive Thoughts

The conversation includes an honest discussion of:

• Violent intrusive thoughts
• Health anxiety
• Fear-based logic loops
• Why intrusive thoughts do NOT reflect a person’s character

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A major theme emerges:
People without OCD can let thoughts go. People with OCD feel they must solve them.

5. Chandler’s Breaking Point

• Isolation
• No social support initially
• Mental spiraling
• Realizing anxiety was dominating his life

Eventually he recognized something was wrong — a powerful turning point.

6. The Path to Recovery

Chandler explains three essential tools:

a. Therapy (ERP Therapy)

Exposure Response Prevention — intentionally facing triggers
Examples discussed:

• Touching something dirty and not washing hands
• Facing fears without performing compulsions
• “Poking the bear” in a safe therapeutic setting

b. Medication

Not a cure — but a powerful tool to loosen OCD’s grip.

c. Community & Not Doing It Alone

The biggest lie in mental health struggles?
“You are alone.”

7. Theology, Scripture & the Battle of the Mind

The podcast beautifully ties mental health to biblical truth:

• 2 Corinthians 10:5 — taking thoughts captive
• Philippians 4:6-7 — pouring out anxiety to God
• Jesus in Gethsemane — embracing discomfort, not avoiding it
• Elijah’s despair — God reminding him he was not alone
• Paul’s sufferings as a teaching tool for others

Chandler explains how his theological wrestling actually deepened his well and now allows him to help others.

8. Practical Wisdom for Listeners

• Don’t do mental battles alone
• Therapy is not weakness
• Medication is not failure
• Community matters
• Thoughts are not sins
• Being uncomfortable doesn’t mean you’re unsafe
• God can redeem even your struggles

9. Ending Encouragement

Doug reminds listeners:

Your story may be the very thing that sets someone else free.