Authors

Roueen Rafeyan, MD, DFAPA, FASAM

Dr Rafeyan is chief medical officer of the Gateway Foundation; an assistant professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois; and the Psychiatric Times substance use section editor.

Ms Cliffel is a writer and mindfulness teacher who uses storytelling, yoga, sitting, and sound as mechanisms to liberate the mind in service of living our best lives. She does all this, including work on her memoir about postpartum psychosis, while raising 3 wonderful humans in Cleveland, Ohio.

Latest Article

Sports Psychiatry and ADHD: A Vital Link in Neurodevelopment and Performance.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) is among the most prevalent neurodevelopmental conditions in both childhood and adolescence. ADHD is associated with significant academic, emotional, and functional impairment. In clinical practice, pharmacotherapy and behavioral interventions remain foundational. However, physical activity and structured sports participation represent underutilized, evidence-based adjuncts for symptom regulation, emotional resilience, and long-term health. Meta-analytic evidence demonstrates that exercise improves attention, executive functioning, and core ADHD symptoms. Newly emerging literature highlights the moderating role of family context and access disparities. Sports psychiatry provides a translational framework integrating mental health treatment with performance optimization, injury recovery, and psychosocial development. Adopting a neurodiversity-informed, biopsychosocial lens allows clinicians to leverage movement as a regulatory and strengths-based intervention rather than solely a symptom target. This article synthesizes epidemiologic trends, exercise science, parenting influences, and sports psychiatry principles to offer practical clinical strategies for psychiatrists counseling families and youth. Emphasizing physical activity as a core component of holistic ADHD care may enhance resilience, engagement, and lifelong mental health trajectories.

Tom Hildebrandt, PsyD

Dr Hildebrandt is a clinician and researcher with Mount Sinai, specializing in adolescents and adults with weight disorders along with neuroendocrine and hormonal contributions to eating and substance use disorders. He is also a professor of psychiatry and of AI and human health.

Dr Ferrier is a family physician working in the Division of Geriatric Medicine of the McGill University Health Centre. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and is the president of the Physicians’ Alliance Against Euthanasia.

Dr Coelho is a public health physician and university hospital assistant at the University Sleep Medicine Unit of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the University Hospital of Bordeaux.

Dr Dragonetti is on the faculty at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Dr Lavingia is a PGY-4 psychiatry resident at the University of Pittsburgh. Her clinical and research interests include women’s mental health and consultation-liaison psychiatry.

Latest Article

Sports Psychiatry and ADHD: A Vital Link in Neurodevelopment and Performance.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) is among the most prevalent neurodevelopmental conditions in both childhood and adolescence. ADHD is associated with significant academic, emotional, and functional impairment. In clinical practice, pharmacotherapy and behavioral interventions remain foundational. However, physical activity and structured sports participation represent underutilized, evidence-based adjuncts for symptom regulation, emotional resilience, and long-term health. Meta-analytic evidence demonstrates that exercise improves attention, executive functioning, and core ADHD symptoms. Newly emerging literature highlights the moderating role of family context and access disparities. Sports psychiatry provides a translational framework integrating mental health treatment with performance optimization, injury recovery, and psychosocial development. Adopting a neurodiversity-informed, biopsychosocial lens allows clinicians to leverage movement as a regulatory and strengths-based intervention rather than solely a symptom target. This article synthesizes epidemiologic trends, exercise science, parenting influences, and sports psychiatry principles to offer practical clinical strategies for psychiatrists counseling families and youth. Emphasizing physical activity as a core component of holistic ADHD care may enhance resilience, engagement, and lifelong mental health trajectories.

Dr Colon-Rivera is the Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha Medical Director, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center attending physician, and President of the APA Hispanic Caucus.