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Some people hold the irrational belief that one object (or possibly idea) can fix all their problems. For example, someone who is unhappy or anxious might think that smoking is a cure to all their problems.
What's the idiom to describe this belief? I used to know it but it slipped my mind.
You may be thinking of magic bullet but panacea would also fit.
magic bullet noun
informal
a medicine or other remedy with advanced or highly specific properties:
there’s no magic bullet, and we should just try to eat as varied and well-balanced a diet as possiblepanacea noun
a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases:
the panacea for all corporate ills
the time-honoured panacea, cod liver oil
In addition to "magic bullet" there is "silver bullet", particularly in the phrase "no silver bullet", to mean no quick or easy or complete fix for a problem.
See http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sil1.htm for a comparison to "magic bullet".
This isn't a phrase, but there is the word panacea which the Oxford Dictionaries define as "a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases".
While the offered answers of panacea and magic bullet both seem to suit, there is also deus ex machina
noun [singular] literature /ˌdeɪəs eks ˈmɑkɪnɑ/ someone or something that solves a situation that seemed impossible to solve in a sudden and unlikely way, especially in a book, play, movie, etc.
This is largely literary, but can be used to describe an implausible solution in other cases.
It literally means god from a machine, referring to the common practice in bad theater of wrapping up a convoluted plot by having a god [usually Olympian] being lowered from by a crane or lifted through a trapdoor onto the stage and saving the beleaugered, issuing an edict or effecting a magical transformation.
Snake oil wiki -Snake oil is an expression that originally referred to fraudulent health products or unproven medicine but has come to refer to any product with questionable or unverifiable quality or benefit.
One source, [...] claims that the name came from the Eastern United States. The Native Americans of New York and Pennsylvania region would rub cuts and scrapes with the petroleum collected from oil seeps that occurred naturally in the area. European settlers observed this habit, and began bottling and selling the substance as a cure-all. The preparation was sold as "Seneca oil" in mid-nineteenth century, after the local tribes. Haubrich claims through mispronunciation this became "Sen-ake-a oil" and eventually "snake oil".
Just what the doctor ordered source - exactly what is required, especially for health or comfort.
Elixir of life free dictionary - a hypothetical substance believed to maintain life indefinitely; once sought by alchemists
A quick fix free dictionary- a quick solution to a problem, especially one which is only temporary
Eureka moment (7/26/2013)
Magic potion FD a drink or draft, esp. one having or reputed to have medicinal, poisonous, or magical powers.
If you're looking for a word (not an idiom) that emphasizes the dubious efficacy of a proposed cure-all, a good candidate might be nostrum. Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) offers two definitions for nostrum:
1: a medicine of secret composition recommended by its preparer but usu. without scientific proof of its effectiveness 2: a usu. questionable remedy or scheme: PANACEA ["an audience eager to believe he had found the nostrum for all of society's ills" —Warren Sloat]
How about Swiss knife? Although its use is limited for objects.
In software development circles, we call it the "Golden Hammer." The name is related to the aphorism "when your only tool is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail." The Golden Hammer is considered to be an anti-pattern.
A belief in something in spite of evidence to the contrary is a delusion. There is a mental disorder called delusional disorder.
However, a delusion is not specifically a belief a non-working solution, but in any false idea in general.
An object or idea that someone relies on that doesn't necessarily help, but creates some measure or real or perceived support, is called a crutch. (One could have a delusional belief that a crutch, like alcohol, is actually solving problems).
A single-minded preoccupation is a fixation. Applicable psychological terms are idée fixe or monomania. The persistent, irrational belief that some object solves problems could be an example of such.
Another possibe idiom you may be looking for is "magical thinking", but its meaning is perhaps too specific for your stated case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_thinking
Magical thinking is the identification of causal relationships between actions and events, where scientific consensus says that there is none. In religion, folk religion and superstition the correlation posited is between religious ritual, prayer, sacrifice, or the observance of a taboo, and an expected benefit or recompense. In clinical psychology, magical thinking can cause a patient to experience fear of performing certain acts or having certain thoughts because of an assumed correlation between doing so and threatening calamities. Magical thinking may lead people to believe that their thoughts by themselves can bring about effects in the world or that thinking something corresponds with doing it.[1] It is a type of causal reasoning or causal fallacy that looks for meaningful relationships of grouped phenomena between acts and events.
This would apply if someone thinks that smoking makes them more fortunate, or smoking a certain kind of tobacco means they aren't at increased risk for cancers and other ailments.
Where this does not fit is when something does have a real effect, like smoking calming anxiety (it can - though its actually the nicotine withdrawal that is causing or worsening the anxiety itself). But if you think that going to a seminar is going to make your life great, or rubbing the belly of the Buddha is going to help you meet that special someone you've been looking for in life, that's magical thinking.
I couldn't say this is exactly idiomatic, being a word I learnt two minutes ago, but you could try catholicon:-
(n) a remedy for all ills; panacea
A more pop-culture based option could be "Easy Button." While the term has been around for some time, the office supply retail outlet Staples made it famous by running several ad campaigns featuring an "Easy Button" that when pressed, would instantly fix any problems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staples_Inc.#Advertising
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMPF-XMyN7g
Edit: After re-reading the question I now realize that my answer describes the object that can fix all the problems, not the belief in the objects ability.
