Similarly I don’t seem to switch off even when sleeping.
I’ve had the kitten (in my profile pic) staying in the same house with me again for the last few weeks. It’s been pretty cold at night recently and they know my body runs pretty warm 24/7. So twice in the last week they decided to swap bedrooms at around 3am and come and join me.
I’d wake up to the sound of their tiny paws padding over the carpet, just as they entered my room through the slightly open doorway for them about 3 meters away.
I know if I’m sharing a bed or even a room with a partner or friend, I’ll be waking up throughout the night whenever I hear subtle changes to their breathing pattern for when they go from deep sleep to slightly stirring, even when their body position doesn’t move. Shared dorm rooms were a nightmare for me.
A long term partner set herself a challenge to tell me things, very quietly in the middle of the night when she thought I was deep asleep and so wouldn’t respond, but I would always respond immediately and directly to whatever she’d said. After years of trying, apparently only once did I sleep though, but that was also when I’d been pretty ill that day so sleeping deeper in my recovery.
As much as I love the intimacy of sharing a bed with someone, unfortunately I will almost always sleep far better when I’m sleeping solo in a very quiet and fully blacked out room.
Maybe one day I’ll find someone I sleep deeper when alongside. But in the meantime I know I’ll be sleeping with one ear open, throughout the night, wherever I am.