It is hard to know where to start as it's a very broad question... how has sleep helped me?
well once I was like you in the sense of sleep deprivation, I stayed up all night playing games and slept for a few hours if I was lucky. Even when i did lay down in bed, I struggled to even close my eyes because my brain kept thinking and making me do things (and usually this is my main reason for a relapse).
In short, sleep helped me in every way you could ever think of... better social activity, better eating, better at nofap, a more positive outlook, more focused and a feeling of being more in control of my life.
If you want some advice with how to sleep better, i'd start with waking up right... I know that sounds silly but it worked for me.
I have 3 alarms, each are 15 minutes apart and the first one goes off at 8:15, it's heavy metal music and I leave my alarm at the other side of the room. First, I force myself to turn on the light, then I walk over to turn the alarm off and once I am out of bed, i clean my teeth, wash my face, put some pumpy workout music on and start my workout on my bedroom floor that just consists of like, pushups and stuff. After doing this, I found myself more tired at night which gradually set my bed time earlier and making my sleep come to me soon after laying my head down... If my brain does start going wild then I perform some meditation, then lay back down and try to sleep again.
I know I didn't really answer your question properly but trust me, when you're sleeping better, your entire life will get so much better. Good sleep is just as important as good food!!!
if you would like, I can go into specifics as for how sleep helps me in a day to day basis but I think life improvement is sufficient to at least try my waking up theory for a bit until you see the results for yourself and you can answer your own question.