Ashley
If you look at the definition of quick fix as one word, there is. The internet is full of books selling just this. I even have one that works within the context of the meaning. Medication is the other quick fix.
But as a quick permanent fix the answer is no. All the quick fixes including mine are coping skills that will have to be repeated each time they are needed. Including medication except that medication takes no work. Take a pill and you are effortlessly okay till it wears off. Any Therapist worth their wages will tell you wanting to and using a mantra of this type will get you through the moment if you believe strong enough but it too is not a permanent fix. It is a step toward changing thought patterns on top of the obvious distracting effect. But alone it is not a cure. Done right it works but still is not the answer. How people perceive things, their attitude and their ability to believe is. And that takes time. Even CBT good as it is is only information. The person has to understand that information to be able to use it. Done only half way and it too becomes only a quick fix.
For some distractions and self talk will allow a person to drive but can be in heavy traffic as dangerous as medication. I remember being on meds and having such a slow reaction time I missed intersections I wanted.
Now when I drive all I think about is driving. Even blinding snow storms don't bother me. I'm cautious but not scared.
But it is just a part of the overall changing of thought patterns.
Being in a confined space in a confining area with restricting rules to follow and changing flow patterns should by rights give all of us panic. Add on top of that many other minds doing and thinking things you don't know and you have more for concern. But if you want to be there and if in your mind all these confining things are aids not hindrances then they don't matter. But that is CBT and only works if you use it. It is as it says, only therapy. But does it work. Of course it does. It did for me. Or am I just more dedicated to making it work.
A final word on meds, Some people need to be on an SSRI even if they don't want to. A few even permanently. This is just a statistical fact And as far as I am concerned and this is all just my opinion, it has to be decided before anything else. Trying to fix something without the tools does not work.
End of comment.
Davit
