Brightside HealthReviews of brightside.com

COMPLETE mess at this very moment!!! Things are pretty horrible in my life and mental health right now. Brightside completely screwed me up medication wise and the absolute LACK of communication when I really really needed my psychiatrist to at the VERY least respond to my text msgs. A day or two, absolutely get it. But over a week several times when I had crisis, bad side affects to meds and making sure my disability was continued. Absolutely HORRIBLE. I ended up in a observation psychiatric ward for two days LAST Monday because of this neglect of care, compassion and advocating for my metal stability and well being. I would like to request a full reimbursement of funds! In a timely matter. I would rather not pursue this legally, especially in my current state. But I absolutely will if need be. I expect a full response, and when my refund will be expected. This is not OK!! Unstably yours, Adam S.

I began using Brightside Health in mid-August 2023. I was very quickly matched with a therapist and a psychiatrist and met with both within a week of creating my account. I didn't have any issues with my insurance or copays during my time using Brightside. When I spoke with my therapist and provider for my virtual appointments, they were generally kind. Outside of my appointments, almost everything involving my experience with Brightside was a mess. The app is poorly designed and frequently has issues. Even a month into my sessions, I was receiving a pop-up asking me to schedule my "first" session with my therapist. Connecting to the virtual appointments does not always work. The messaging portal occasionally refuses to open. The app sometimes closes itself entirely. Following my first appointment with my psychiatrist, I was prescribed medication. She was aware that I had run out of medication and needed it to function. Unfortunately, my psychiatrist did not inform me of how long it would take for her to send the prescription to the pharmacy. For three days, I was without medication. If I had just been informed of this waiting period beforehand, I could have anticipated and planned for it. Instead, I was unable to contact my psychiatrist and ask for an update because our first appointment had not yet been marked as completed, and the messaging portal was unavailable as a result. I chose instead to reach out to Customer Support. I was not informed until submitting a support ticket of this turnaround. Further, I inquired whether this was typical or something to plan for moving forward. I never received an answer to this question. I was "thanked for my patience" and asked to leave feedback on my experience with Customer Support. My therapist, while pleasant to speak to, was unreliable. I met with her for my initial appointment and was advised that I should meet with her weekly. I scheduled an appointment for the following week right away. She ended up cancelling this appointment, stating that she had become unavailable. One such instance is understandable. Instead, the appointments I made for each week were cancelled for the next three weeks. I began looking for another therapist at this point. I finally met with my therapist again and we had a pleasant, if surface-level conversation about coping mechanisms for anxiety. She suggested moving from weekly to biweekly sessions. I scheduled an appointment for two weeks later: this Thursday. In the Brightside app, there are regular "check-ins" with questions meant to gauge change in your levels of depression and anxiety. There are 5-10 total questions. I completed my most recent of these check-ins either one or two days ago. My "depression" score fell slightly, from "severe" to "moderately-severe." My "anxiety" score increased, from "moderately-severe" to "severe." I suppose that, because of these results, my therapist decided I was "feeling better" and messaged me to inform me that she had cancelled my appointment and that weekly sessions were no longer necessary. I suppose she forgot that I had not, in fact, been meeting with her weekly, and did not realize that she had just cancelled my biweekly appointment. This could easily have been avoided if she had simply spoken to me about how I felt and whether I wanted to keep the appointment or not. If I felt I did not need the appointment, I would have cancelled it myself. I navigated to the scheduling screen to reschedule the appointment, only to receive a pop-up saying that I did not have permission to schedule an appointment. This was, frankly, my breaking point. I feel this is absolutely unacceptable, especially from a mental health care company that plays such an important role in a patient's wellbeing. Aside from feeling incredibly distressed, I felt disrespected. Given my last experience with Customer Support, I decided that I have had enough of this service. I cancelled my plan, disabled text notifications, and uninstalled the app. Interestingly, I proceeded to receive a text just minutes later informing me that "your therapist needs to speak with you this week." Funny! An hour before, she had said exactly the opposite. I have blocked their email address and the number I was receiving texts from. My primary care provider is now managing my prescriptions and I am searching for another therapist. I hope to never hear from anyone in this horrible company ever again.

GARBAGE COMPANY. WILL BOOK YOU WITH "NURSE PRACTITIONERS" WHO LITERALLY CANNOT DO ANYTHING FURTHER THAN A THERAPIST. WASTE OF YOUR TIME DO NOT USE THIS GARBAGE UNLESS YOU JUST WANT A RANDOM PERSON TO TALK TO LATE AT NIGHT, THEN EXPECT TO SEE A PSYCHIATRIST THE NEXT MORNING. IT WILL BE AN "NP" WHO CANNOT SPEAK ENGLISH AND WILL TELL YOU SHE CANNOT HELP YOU UNLESS YOUR CURRENT TREATMENT IS TYLENOL

The providers were great However, I was only able to make one therapy appointment and then her schedule was completely booked every time I checked. You can only see appointments about two weeks out. I was checking every day and went weeks without seeing an open appointment. When I finally did see one, it was one 45 minute time slot during which time I was working. I contacted customer service and never heard back from them so I contacted them a second time a couple weeks later and then they apologized for the delayed response and said there was nothing they could do. I don’t understand how this therapy could be helpful if you can’t make an appointment. And also if the therapist already have that heavy of a patient load, why are they even listed as an option for new patients?

I want to take the time out to give a review after using Brightside for 6 months now. It has been a great experience. I feel as though most of the people here who leave reviews don't actually give the process a full try and go into the process and sessions with an open mind. Yes, I did start the medication Zoloft, to be exact. The first two weeks were tough, and I think it might have been due to the fact that I was already going through a rough patch in life, but afterwards everything started to get better with me applying what I was learning in therapy and applying it to my life. I can say that six months down the road, I am doing a lot better, and even the therapist said the same in addition to the nurse. Don't let the bad reviews on here discourage you. Always remember that many people are quick to leave negative reviews but aren't quick to leave positive reviews when everything is working out and going well. With that being said, go ahead, give it a try, and have an open mind. Don't let other negative experiences dictate your experience.

The platform they switched to doesn't work. I have reached out 4 times over a month for help and no response. They do send an automatic message saying they will get back to you no later than 72 business hours. I have insurance but I'm still paying over $1 a minute. I shouldn't have to chase them for help.

This mental health practice was a tumultuous ride from start to finish. To start, I tried their psychiatry, and I didn't learn until a couple weeks in that they couldn't provide stimulants, causing my mental health to spiral as I had to struggle with bureaucracy hoops to get back on the medications I needed to be stable. Once I canceled my psychiatry, I tried therapy. It went alright for a time, however I had around 4 instances where my therapist just did not show up. Nothing personal, as it sounded like she had a lot going on, but it was sort of unprofessional to just leave me hanging so many times. My therapist also did little more than sympathize with me or give me advice, which made things difficult when I already knew where my issues would come from and was just expecting reasons behind them. Also, the "24 hour messaging" they boast is a little misleading as my therapist frequently would not respond until days later, if at all. After this period of not seeing her at all, my therapist messaged me to say she would not be taking any appointments starting soon, so I decided to just cut it off there. And if that wasn't enough, their "support" system (which is just an email address) caused me more problems than they fixed; first they billed me for multiple appointments from months ago in one invoice, and on top of that they were virtually unreachable any time I tried to message them. One time their system even asked me to rate the support I received when I had never even gotten a response. Really a waste of my time on all three fronts; don't bother scheduling with these people if you don't want to waste your time.

I’d give its therapists 5 stars. However, the nurse practioners are short lived. When asked if they treat ADHD you’re given the incorrect answer of yes. During my year with them I found my therapist a God send. However the medication and NP side of my treatment would be a 1 star experience. At first I was given a 5 minute (not an exaggeration) appointment with him. He prescribed a medication that put me in a deep depression and the effects of the medication were something I won’t soon forget. But it was his response to hearing I wasn’t doing well on the medication that sent me reeling. “Most don’t do well on that medication”. Ok why prescribe it if you know it’s not a good drug for most patients?! During the year plus I was with them, my NP changed several times. Never getting medication I needed to impove my condition. They don’t accept most insurances and it’s difficult to tell whom they take.