What I Wish I Knew Earlier About Healing OCD & Anxiety | Breaking Free from OCD, Anxiety & Stress

What I Wish I Knew Earlier About Healing from OCD and Anxiety
By Matt Codde, LCSW – Restored Minds

When it comes to overcoming OCD, anxiety, and chronic stress, most of us fall into the same trap: we believe that more effort equals more results. As the founder of Restored Minds and a licensed clinical social worker, I can tell you firsthand—this was one of the biggest misconceptions that slowed my own journey to recovery. Here’s why real healing requires a whole new mindset, and what you can do today to move forward.

Why More Effort Isn’t Always Better

Our culture rewards achievement, hard work, and willpower. We’re taught that pushing harder guarantees success. But when it comes to healing—especially from OCD and anxiety—this approach doesn’t work. In fact, pouring in more effort can actually make things worse.

So many people start with the belief that getting rid of uncomfortable thoughts or feelings is the goal. They try dozens of strategies to force away anxiety, manage intrusive thoughts, or control their emotions. The expectation is simple: if I can just eliminate these problems, I’ll be healed.

But as I learned the hard way, willful effort doesn’t create healing. Sometimes, the harder you try to control or suppress your symptoms, the more stuck you feel.

A New Paradigm: Collaboration, Not Control

Healing isn’t about force. It’s about working with your mind and emotions, not against them. The process isn’t about achieving the absence of anxiety or intrusive thoughts—it’s about allowing and releasing what’s already there.

Many of us are used to suppressing our emotions or distracting ourselves from discomfort—whether it’s binge-watching Netflix, keeping insanely busy, or constantly seeking reassurance. This resistance only stores up more emotional stress, which eventually comes to the surface through triggers, making things feel overwhelming and unmanageable.

What’s actually happening is your body and mind are trying to process and release old emotions. When triggers arise and uncomfortable feelings come up, it’s not a sign you’re failing—it’s a sign that healing is trying to take place. The problem is when we react by resisting, avoiding, or suppressing, we stop natural healing in its tracks.

The Power of Allowing and Letting Go

Real recovery starts with dropping the struggle. Instead of putting immense effort into “getting rid of” anxiety or OCD thoughts, shift your focus to accepting and experiencing your emotions as they are. Allow them to come and go, trusting that this process is part of genuine healing.

Think about it: the harder you try to find a relationship or “force” a good outcome in any area of life, the less it seems to work. Lasting change happens when you stop pushing and start working with what is.

Breaking the OCD and Anxiety Cycle

If you notice yourself using endless effort to control thoughts and feelings—or stacking up rituals, avoidance behaviors, and coping mechanisms—pause and reevaluate. Often, these efforts are making the OCD and anxiety cycle stronger, not weaker. It’s the paradox at the heart of recovery: the more you try to control, the more stuck you become.

Key Takeaways

• Effort alone doesn’t create healing: Stop measuring progress by how hard you’re pushing.

• Work with, not against, yourself: Healing is about co-collaborating with your mind and emotions.

• Release old patterns: Suppressing, distracting, and avoiding are not the answers.

• Allow the process to unfold: Trust that your body and mind have a natural capacity to heal.

If you’re ready to break free from the old paradigm and start true recovery, check out our resources at Restored Minds or explore the links in the show notes. And if these insights helped, please consider liking, subscribing, or leaving a review—it really means a lot!

Wishing you a wonderful day and a restored mind,
Matt Codde, LCSW