Yeah I'm pretty sure when I was little I was afraid of the dark too, but that was because I was a child and it's fairly common for small children, and I grew out of it. In fact that problem now isn't all that old. If I had to guess I'd say it's been going for a year, at most a year and a half but it's hard to know for sure. I kinda don't know at this point, I find it difficult to force my mind to think of something specific when trying to sleep or relax, because in general in order for me to fall asleep my mind has to be relatively blank, actively focusing on any one thing keeps my mind wide awake.

Unfortunately no. I live with just my parents and I can't really set up camp in their room. My mom has on occasion come down to my room for a short time , but it's not ideal for her. She insisted that if I needed help then they'd hear me scream, but I must have a very quiet scream because I've woken up screaming or crying many time even when I was in the bedroom over and it never made anyone else stir.