<human>: Text wall warning.

A couple years ago I was riding a ski lift and it stopped. (somebody got stuck at the top, I guess. It happens.) The combination of the sudden change in movement, the 35-foot elevation, lack of restraining bar, and my ambient dizziness that day created a perfect storm of terrible stimuli, i.e. it caused a panic attack. I was stuck on the lift for another two or three minutes, pretty much semi-conscious and out of commission.

I'm a cautious person by nature, always have been, and I think in this case it worked against me especially. Heights aren't really the problem anymore (although going any higher than the second story of a building makes me VERY uneasy). Delightfully, rather, my body seems to have learned how to have a panic attack, and now it's willing to do so at a moment's notice of anything that makes me feel slightly uneasy. As a result I suffer from pretty severe vertigo and acrophobia, and I don't feel very secure anywhere—basically, I can't look up or down very much. It has gotten severe enough that the concept of the Earth hurtling through space makes me nervous (which even to me sounds ridiculous, but there you have it). Any aberrant mental state also worsens the precarious feeling for me, e.g. the effects of caffeine.

I also had a panic attack after being startled while watching Shutter Island, with the result that I can no longer watch that movie anymore. My brain is just too hypersensitive.

I am seeing a psychologist about it but I don't know if we're making any progress. He believes very strongly in the ability of the body to heal itself and in the benefits of mentally trying to work through the problem, which has its virtues, but I am (and don't want to be) incapacitated while we look for a solution. I'm a high school senior, and I worry that I won't be able to get over this problem before I have to go to college this fall and, most likely, stay in a multilevel dorm in a completely different state, which would be a very dangerous situation for me mentally.

I'm desperate at this point to be able to resume some kind of normal life. Help!

Summarize the given text in a few sentences.
<bot>: my brain is way too good at "flight-or-fight" response. at least the "flight" part. damn it