In this edition of PsychPearls, Hannah Simon, MD, introduces a new series on teen and tween mental health. Her first guest is Andrew Chen, MD, MS, the chief medical officer for USA Nordic, the national leadership organization for Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping in the United States. They discuss the importance of mental wellbeing for peak athletic performance, the programs available for Olympic athletes, and how health care providers can help students succeed—in everything from the big game to the big test.  

In this podcast they cover:

- Dr Chen’s path from medical school to the Olympic Games

- Simone Biles and fighting the stigma surrounding mental illness

- The mental health challenges facing school-aged children during the pandemic

- The importance of diet and nutrition for athletic performance and mental wellbeing

- 5 personality attributes that Olympians share (and what psychiatrists can learn from them)

Dr Simon is a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

 Acknowledgement: Thanks to Columbia University Department of Psychiatry for allowing us to present the Caring for Teens and Tweens podcast with experts in the field of psychiatry.