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I'm so glad it could help! I've been in the exact same situation. I basically have sucked at sleeping my whole life (like legit couldn't sleep like a normal baby at two months old! My parents were pissed cause I wouldn't take naps) and only recently have been starting to get things in order where I don't feel so terrible all the time.

It's been really interesting hearing about sleep from my sleep specialist as well as my psychiatrist (for adhd). My psych had mentioned how sleep problems are very common with adhd, insomnia especially but also my other sleep disorder (delayed sleep phase disorder) so it's really easy to built up anxiety about sleeping because of past experience with issues about sleep. Then from my sleep doctor, he had said as well that sleep anxiety is very common and is a root cause for things like chronic insomnia.

Most of the advice my sleep doc has given has all been lifestyle change related. He couldn't even prescribe meds to be honest. Here is the best and most concise list from his advice about creating healthy sleep patterns:

1. Consistent sleep and wake times. aka no "recovering sleep" on weekends by getting up hours later or sleeping in late because you stayed up late. Get up at the same time everyday and if you're tired, take a nap within a few hours of waking up.
   
2. Consistent night-time routine like listen to some music, wash your face, brush your teeth, write or draw or read. Just things you do every night before bed) because it helps form an association with those activities and sleeping
   
3. No blue light as long before bed as you can, minimum 1 hour. So don't watch tv, go on your computer or phone without a bluelight filter or blue light glasses like these from amazon that I have and love.
   
4. No stimulating activities an hour or more before bed. you have to know what makes you sleepy or fires you up. Like reading before bed for me is great cause it makes me tired but I can't play video games because it'll get me too hyped. Some people will start to read a book and keep reading until they finish it though so then that doesn't work for them.
   
5. Do NOTHING in bed except sleep and sex. For real, do not lay in bed to relax. Do not eat. Do not browse your phone. Don't read. Don't watch tv. Hell, if you're trying to fall asleep at night and not sleeping after some time you're not even supposed to stay in bed).
   
6. Limit caffeine intake in general, but especially in the afternoon. So from working in a coffee shop for years, my tolerance for caffeine is wild but also so is my knowledge on the subject. Caffeine has a half life of 6-8 hours! That means if you have a cup of coffee (avg 12oz cup of coffee has about 120mg of caffeine in it), then 8 hours later, you still have 60mg of caffeine in your body. That's just short of a shot of espresso. So know how caffeine affects you and try not to have it in the afternoon or just in smaller doses (like a cup of green tea may have 30-40mg of caffeine)
   
7. Exercise regularly but know how it affects you. Some people become exhausted by exercising and it helps put them to sleep. Some people are left energized and it prevents them from sleeping after working out. Exercising leaves your heart rate elevated for hours afterwards. General recommendations is to be done working out at least 4 hours before bedtime. But do what suits you best.
   
8. Don't stay in bed if you're not asleep. This one is HUGE for insomnia. If you can't fall asleep, you should not let yourself stay in bed any longer than 15-20 minutes. If you can't sleep, get out of bed and out of your room and go find a non-stimulating activity to do for a while and then try again. The more you "try" to sleep, the harder it is because it increases performance anxiety! This also goes hand in hand with don't try to sleep if you're not tired. Trying to force yourself to sleep is literally one of the least helpful things you can do.
   
9. Don't drink too much alcohol before bed. Lots of people self-medicate with alcohol because it makes them tired. One drink may help act as a sedative, but more than that within a few hours of bedtime actually disrupts REM sleep so you may be falling asleep, but the quality of sleep is poor.
   
   Also worth noting, if you have continuous problems with sleep and have taken some of most of the steps listed, you need to see a specialist. A sleep study would likely be needed for diagnosis but some sleep disorders can kill you (like sleep apnea). There are a ton of sleep disorders people have probably never heard of either so it's good to talk to a professional if the basic steps do not work.
   
   Best of luck fellow bed bro!

maybe you're doing all this already, but if not, hope it helps!

1) set a bedtime alarm on your phone. Use an app like AMdroid to set up an alarm that requires something before it can be dismissed; this is under "Challenges" in the profile settings. Make another, possibly easily dismissed, alarm for fifteen minutes earlier than your bedtime, and try to end whatever you're doing before your true bedtime alarm sounds, or at least end it before you type in the Challenge and dismiss the true bedtime alarm. Go to bed at the same time every night, even weekends.

2) make a rule that even if you plan at breaking bedtime, when the alarm is dismissed you will immediately write in your chart (r/thexeffect) whether you are breaking bedtime or not

3) if you break bedtime, your punishment the next day is not being allowed to do any regular fiction (tv, books, games, etc.). You can only do something sleep related. (books about dreamwalkers, games set in a dream, reddits about sleep, music about dreams, etc.)

4) brush your teeth at least half an hour before bed; toothpaste can keep you awake. Make sure that it's also at least half an hour after you last ate or drank (besides water) so that you don't damage the enamel.

5) replace the lightbulbs in your house with incandescent bulbs, red bulbs, or blue-light-blocking LEDs. Regular LEDs will keep you awake.

6) look in display settings on your computer and phone for night mode. This should lessen the amount of blue light coming from your screens at nighttime. If your computer doesn't have that feature, download f.lux. If you do use a screen near bedtime (phone, tv, computer, etc.) have a regular light on in the room as well, so you're not just staring at a screen in the dark.

7) get a sound machine. I like this one. I set it to Brown Noise, loudest setting, 90 minutes.

8) when trying to fall asleep, masturbate, without using any porn. The porn would wake you up.

9) make a rule that if you fail to fall asleep, the only thing you can do is listen to a not-that-interesting audiobook or podcast (for instance, something you've already read or listened to, so you already know the ending). While lying in your bed, in the dark. (Some people would tell you the opposite - to get out of bed and walk around, not to get used to lying in bed awake. That doesn't work for me, though. If that's better for you, feel free to do that instead.)

10) get blinds and drapes, the darker the better. Cover any lights in your room either with black paper and tape, or by putting clothes on them.

11) go to your phone's settings and turn on automatic Do Not Disturb times. You can choose favorite phone numbers that this won't apply to, if necessary. This will also prevent notification sounds/lights. 

12) check what you're ingesting. It's best to give up coffee completely; while the first half of the caffeine will be gone in 5 hours, the other half of caffeine can stay in your system for 30 hours. Even decaf can have as much as 1/7 the amount of caffeine as a regular coffee (depending on type). Other caffeines, like soda, diet soda, or tea, quit for a while, then after you're sleeping well try having it in the morning (or before [5 hours after your intended wake up time]) and see if it's a problem at night. Cinnamon should also only be in the morning. Decaf tea, decaf coffee, and chocolate might be alright in small amounts in the mornings. Check your multivitamin for B12, too much will keep you awake (I need to stay below 8 mcg a day myself). Take your vitamins with breakfast unless a doctor says otherwise.

13) I highly recommend eating a little chocolate or cacao powder in the morning. It will give you serotonin which helps you to sleep when the cardiovascular stimulant wears off. Also, as soon as you wake up, open your drapes and blinds to get some sunlight. Exercising for 30 minutes after breakfast everyday will help your sleep cycle.

14) during the day, keep a weekly calendar and todo list, so you don't have to try to remember everything you'll be doing

15) this is optional: you can download a browser extension for your computer or an app for your phone to lock it down before bedtime, so you're physically incapable of using it.

Good luck man 🍀

They actually aren't, and instead those parts of the brain that make you "You" are actually VERY active and doing their job.

I read a book called "Why We Sleep" (highly recommended!) and in part of it the author talked about dreaming, and it was so enlightening! If I remember this correctly, the first part of sleep when you have no dreams, is where your body is repairing itself and your brain is committing to memory things that you learned that day. The dreaming part is your brain connecting things you learned today with things you already knew in the past, which to me seems so cool and which must be why even when my dreams make no sense, I can often pick out mundane stuff I encountered the day prior.

It may help to try to frame sleeping and dreaming as biochemical processes, not existential or spiritual ones. Reading more about sleep might also help you to consider it in a more detached manner, and hopefully make it less stressful. I wish you best of luck!

This is the pillow I bought and it’s amazing:

Coop Home Goods - Eden Shredded... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZHMODV?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

It’s shredded memory foam and it’s a pretty cool pillow to lay on (literally). They give you instructions for how much fluff to have in your pillow for each type of sleeper (and it comes with A LOT of extra fluff). I paired it with a cheap $15 silk pillow case and it’s perfect for winter or summer. Hope that helps (also if you do get it, the memory foamie smell it comes with goes away after a few days unless you put it in the dryer to get rid of it.

2 Thoughts:

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1. These have been helpful for me as I'm currently changing my sleep schedule https://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Delights-Naturals-B12/dp/B06ZYP3FB4/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=b12+chew&qid=1562733128&s=hpc&sr=1-3
   
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2. If you've felt this way for more than a few weeks, it's time to see a professional. There's a high chance you aren't just missing childhood, but that you're experiencing depression that's causing/contributing to your sleep being messed up. I checked your post history and saw you're in Turkey.
   
   
   I found some therapists/counselors in Ankara and Istanbul with good reviews. If you aren't near there, I'd recommend calling/e-mailing them and asking who they know that practices near you. Also doing a check up with your doctor would be advisable--it could be as simple as you not having enough iron levels in your blood.
   
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   Good luck, friend.
   
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   Source: therapist in training

It's called an "All-in-One" bed.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7N0MIH/ref=twister_B07NH5GBLJ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Get yourself a pair of blueblocking glasses and wear them for the last 2 hours before you go to bed. They block the blue end of the light spectrum that our screens emit. It is the part of the spectrum that most excites the brain which is one of the reasons that being on your screen right before bed is a bad idea.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000USRG90/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1