Speak Your Truth: A Year On.

Kevin Hubsmith's Man Ride Story.

By Black Sheep Cycling

October 18^th, 2021

Mental Health is a burden a lot of us keep close. Kevin Hubsmith opens up about the freedom that comes with sharing your experience and the power that comes with vulnerability.

Externally, I am a model, a consultant, a producer, an athlete, and ambitious. Internally, I have doubts, I overanalyse, I get trapped in my thoughts, and I spiral.

Unbeknown at a first glance, I struggle with anxiety, and depression.

Last year I shared my mental health journey publicly for the first time through the Man Ride... and I assure you, it was not easy to share. We live in a society where a common ailment is shunned from daily chat.

“For years I fell victim to the social stigma surrounding mental health, keeping my story to be my own.”

By putting my story on the table, I felt as if I had freed myself. I felt a weight lifted off me, and I no longer felt ashamed or shy about what I had been through. I felt comfortable sharing when I wasn’t feeling tiptop shape, and I felt more comfortable checking in on those around me.

"I want to see a world where we can treat our mental health the same way we treat our physical health."

I write this to relate to everyone reading, and encourage you to start the conversation. Free yourself from the stigma around mental health and start changing the culture around it.