Why is Sam So SAD? Seasonal Affective Disorder and Depression from a Child’s Perspective

Sam has Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. He will tell you all about it from a child's view. Sam feels the winters are long and dark. The weather saps your energy. 

What causes it - lack of sunlight.  

What season is the worst for people with SAD?  

What happens when you are SAD? - you become lonely.

Who do you talk to when you are SAD? - no one.

Are there things to do when SAD takes over?  You bet!!! 

Come and learn what you can do during the SAD season.

After all, just because you suffer from SAD doesn’t mean you have to stay sad.

Description

This colorful children's book captures the essences of what it is like for a young person to have SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder which is a form of depression. The book is about a boy named Sam who suffers from SAD.Sam tells the reader all about what he experiences and feels. He goes on to explain what causes this sadness within and how the weather plays into how he behaves during this time of year. He tells the readers how he treats his friends, family and even his dog during this SAD time of the year. Sam expounds what the letters S.A.D stand for in Seasonal Affective Disorder. He discusses the remedies he uses to combat SAD. Some include taking unusual vitamins, staring at a special light and the burdensome task of remembering something good that happened during these SAD days. Sam ends the book reminding the reader to practice gratitude. Because Sam feels you can’t be angry and grateful at the same time.

“I wrote this book as a springboard for parents and teachers to understand depression from a child’s point of view. My hope is that my book inspires parents and teachers to talk to children about depression. In my opinion, I don’t feel depression is talked about early enough. What if by talking to the children we could curtail some effects of the teen years caused by feeling hopeless, alone, and never understood? My hope is that by talking to the kids early about depression when the teen years come and depression is more common the teens will be ready for it. My hope in writing about depression earlier with kids when they encounter it is that they will be better able to deal with it, I hope they have a better understanding of those suffering from SAD. I hope they’re more empathetic to those suffering from SAD and depression, especially during the time when they are pushed away during the winter season. I hope they remember it’s not the person, but the SAD that is pushing them away. I would love it if the readers obtained a good grasp on the power of gratitude, and how choosing to be thankful can have an effect on one’s happiness. Having the population notice gratitude and make their own list is part of my crusade.”
— Dan Granger

Interviews

Written interviews

N.N Light’s Book Heaven

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/dan-granger-ai
https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/why-is-sam-so-sad-ci

Book Marketing Buzz Blog 
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2024/05/interview-with-debut-childrens-book.html

Laura Book Blog
https://laurasbooksandblogs.com/author-book-tag-dan-granger/

Media interviews

David Watson Podcast Episode Links
YouTube
https://youtu.be/UsSuHsG4nos
Rumble
https://rumble.com/v51ck0l-why-is-sam-so-sad-seasonal-affective-disorder-and-depression-from-a-childs-.html
Podbean
https://watsondavid1974.podbean.com/e/the-david-watson-podcast-132-why-is-sam-so-sad-seasonal-affective-disorder-and-depression-from-a-childs-perspective/
Apple
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-david-watson-podcast-132-why-is-sam-so-sad/id1589033053?i=1000658918458&app=podcast
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5gvqkS9HldLcKZ0EvHXPed?si=673funZeT1SpSiMEpdJfPQ

Rhett Palmer The Mayor of the Airwaves

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1466800/15329495-dan-granger?client_source=small_player&iframe=true&referrer=https://www.buzzsprout.com/1466800.js?player=small&limit=5&container_id=buzzsprout-small-player-1466800-limit-5

Steven MilettoTeaching Learning Leading K-12

Website link

https://stevenmiletto.com/691

Podcast link

https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-855q6-166b953

Melanie Hope Counter Culture WISE

https://counterculturewise.com/2024/07/09/interview-with-dan-granger/

Arroe Collins Unplugged & Totally Uncut

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/966-arroe-collins-unplugged-to-24175997/episode/the-author-of-why-is-sam-194169857/

Matt Ray KWAY Radio Interview

https://soundcloud.com/kway-radio/why-is-sam-so-sad

Pamela Henderson All Roads lead to 65 Max

https://bbsradio.com/podcast/all-roads-lead-65-max-radio-july-23-2024

Mathew Crawford The Curious Man Podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thecuriousmanspodcast/id1369458829?i=1000666085538

https://thecuriousmanspodcast.libsyn.com/dan-granger-interview-episode-70

Gregory Williams Breaking the Silence

Episode Website:

https://bbsradio.com/podcast/breaking-silence-august-25-2024

https://bbsradio.com/breakingthesilence Both audio or video are available on this link

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-the-silence-with-dr-gregory-williams/id1478915927?i=1000666742225

Reader House
I was a guest on the ReaderHouse Podcast on 1-12-24. Check out my interview which starts at 10 minutes and 30 seconds.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1fGhnUXJxONuRZHK2WXJbo...

Snow Tree Media

https://youtu.be/saTYirpmnjA

Excerpt

Instead of being a loner on the playground, here are more good ways to combat SAD:

Help others. This keeps my mind off my sadness and makes me feel good. I help around the house when I can. I help cook, do the dishes, and clean the house. When it snows, I help shovel the driveway. I also helped my friends with their homework too.

Get out of the house. Get plenty of rest and exercise. Just moving around and being around others helps because they are key at preventing SAD from getting the best of you and making you too much of a “Mopey Marvin.”

Tell an adult in the family like Mom or Dad or Grandma or Grandpa one good thing that happened to you each day. I know it sounds easy, but believe me when I’m in my “Mopey Marvin mode, finding something good that’s happened during the day is a hard thing to do.

Practice, gratitude, or in other words, try to find things to be thankful for each day. In fact, write these in a journal so you can look at them when you are feeling down. Some things in my Thankful Journal are helping my family and my friends, and, of course, waking to the warmth of the sun and enjoying the sunny days. Writing in my journal before I go to bed helps me sleep because I go to sleep being thankful for what I have. More importantly, I go to sleep thinking about what I can give others rather than being depressed and angry and staying awake thinking about what I don’t have. I remember hearing somebody once say, “You can’t be angry and grateful at the same time.” So I try to practice gratitude whenever I can.

I keep my seasonal affective disorder a secret. But I know there are many children on Earth who suffer from SAD just like me. I bet they keep their SAD a secret too. I bet they wish they could fly to a warmer place and leave their winter blues behind.