CerebralReviews of cerebral.com

I can't believe the amount of care I have received from my team. From hands on activities to working with me to get the correct medications that I need. I feel listened to and cared for.

I have struggled with my mental health most of my life. I have severe depression and anxiety that started when I was a child, but was exacerbated in adulthood. I was on and off different medications that were prescribed by my primary care physician, but I just didn’t like them and having to go into the office every time I wanted to change something was taxing in so many ways. After all the stress of 2020, my mental health was suffering more than ever and that’s when I found Cerebral. I love that the prescribers I’ve worked with have really listened to me regarding what has worked for me and what hasn’t and that if I feel like I need to increase the dosage an approval and a new script, if needed, is just a text away. I also really love my Care Counselor, Brittany. She really listens to me and offers solutions on how I can overcome the struggles I’m having. I am so impressed with the value that Cerebral offers for the cost even without insurance.

I suffer from major depression and generalized anxiety since my teen years. I have managed it with medication from time to time, sometimes with therapy, sometimes not at all. Because of the pandemic, I decided to give Cerebral a try. Worst decision in my live. Do not trust this company. It could cost you dearly, not just financially, but emotionally, and if you are in a vulnerable mental state like me, it could be a deadly decision. The actual therapist I worked with (once) was okay. The prescriber and the behind the scenes, team, not so much. Spoiler alert, you can’t cancel Cerebral like most things. Anyway, the prescriber was late to my one session about almost 3 months ago (remember that bit about inability to cancel) , she seemed overwhelmed, stressed even, she kept cutting me off. She was asking me what I should get as prescription. She would ask, have you had this or the other? I would say yes, and she would say: would you like me to put you on that again then? My answer was no, I didn’t want to be put in past medications because they didn’t work for me for one reason or the other( allergy to one, weight gain on another, etc) . So, when she suggested a mood stabilizer, i said, sure, why not? She prescribed me lamotrigil , which I later discover it’s for epilepsy and not FDA approved for treatment of depression/ anxiety although there’s some studies showing it could help and some people out there claiming to help them. The first day I took this pill, I felt like crap. I was fine one day, then I took this pill, and I literally wanted to die. Thankfully, I am very self aware of my feelings and my illness, and I knew right away, this wasn’t me, it was the meds. Also, in my one session, she said take 50 mg, that’s all we discussed. When I get the bottle, it said twice a day ( that’s 100 mg) . She never said to take it twice a day, so I didn’t. You can’t call Cerebral. You have to message your care counselor in the app. So I told him and he said to hang in there, that I will feel better in two weeks when my body adjusted to the meds. About the dosage, he said he will let my prescriber know so she could get in touch with me. She never did. Fast forward 2 weeks from then, I keep forcing myself to take this pill once a day. I did feel better than the first 2 days in which I was a crying mess and feeling emptiness inside. However, I realized I was having vivid dreams every night and I could barely sleep, which was making me grumpy in the morning. I finally had my first appointment with my therapist ( counselor) and she was sweet. She was great, no complaints there. I told her I was feeling awful with the meds and that I didn’t think I could continue on them and she agreed with me. She said I shouldn’t be feeling this way. She said she would talk to my care team and send a message to my prescriber so that the prescriber could switch my meds. I am pretty sure the therapist messaged everybody and their mother. But, they never did anything, not her fault. She also told me to schedule my next appointment to see my prescriber, so at least if everything else failed, I could talk to the elusive prescriber on that day. I thought I had already scheduled my next appointment with the prescriber while I was on the video call with the prescriber, but nothing was on the calendar. So, I scheduled the next available appointment which was in November/December. So, imagine my surprise a couple of weeks later when I get a package in the mail with more meds ( of the same). And I get charged too, without consent, and specially after having communicated to Cerebral the meds were causing me a lot of side effects. I called them to no avail, I emailed them, and they apologized but did nothing. So, I messaged my care counselor with my concerns and he said to email to cancel. Their customer service by email, said they couldn’t cancel me either. I had to email their special cancel team which was a different email. Major red flag. So, I disputed the charge with my credit card company. I followed cerebral instructions to cancel and I get an email saying my account is cancelled. So, I thought I was out of the woods. This was the end of October (when I cancelled). Fast forward to today, when I get a text message from Cerebral “ Your RX has shipped”. I am beyond angry and frustrated at this point. I can’t even access the app because it says “ your account is in process of cancellation “ I am like, what process? I thought this was a done deal. It instructed me to check my account on the web browser. I check it and I see it, this dreadful words “ Scheduled to cancel 11/20/2021”. The cancellation email they sent me back in October said nothing about a queue or schedule to cancel. They had cancelled my prescriber and therapist appointments, so I assumed they would also cancel the automated mailing of meds. It’s utter nonsense.

I was matched with my therapist almost immediately and she was truly the best fit for me. Cerebral gives me affordable therapy on my schedule with the ability to message my therapist throughout the week. It’s been an invaluable service and has helped me keep my mental health in check.

There was a slight delay in getting an understanding of why I couldn't access my account however once I got notification of payment required, I was able to get back in. I'd like to be shown where to find a payment due notice to make a timely payment please.

I really enjoyed my therapist the first month I became a subscriber to this service. They had what I assume to be a family emergency and has not been available for sessions this month, nor will they have any availability for the rest of November. I paid for the month up front and have not received any care, nor will I be able to for the next month. The company said I could have 20% off my next month which is not the solution. I asked for a refund and they said I have to go through a cancellation process first. I do not trust this company AT ALL anymore. I am waiting until closer to the end of this month before cancelling for the proof I have not had any access to the supposed "accessible" mental health care on this app. Absolutely unacceptable.

Don’t waste your time with this company. If you do make an attempt to use them they will definitely waste it for you. After five attempts at signing up in the app consistently kicking me out and starting over, I had to use the website to finish my sign up. After signing up I was attached to a doctor in Texas while I’m in California. After waiting a week for my appointment the doctor informed me that she cannot help me because she’s not in my state. When I contacted customer service they attached me to a doctor in my state that did not have availability for a month and a half. When I reached out again to speak to customer service and asked for a refund on the fees for the first month since I would be receiving no service and I’ve had nothing but difficulties I was told that the best they can do is a 30% discount. For a company that is supposed to help with mental health care they, like so many others, don’t actually care and are only interested in your money.

I have a great prescriber and my care team has been incredible. I did deduct two stars due to my one complaint; the pharmacy at Cerebral is a pain in the butt. During my last session, my prescriber let me know that Cerebral has started to encourage them to solely use the Cerebral pharmacy rather than sending the prescription to a local pharmacy. The problem is, my insurance will not approve one of my ADHD prescriptions through the Cerebral pharmacy; it will allow me to get the prescription from my local pharmacy, however. If I were to solely use the Cerebral pharmacy, I would have to pay completely out of pocket for one of my prescriptions. My prescription through the Cerebral pharmacy would cost me $100 versus the $15 that I pay at a local pharmacy. I think Cerebral needs to understand that by encouraging their prescribers to solely use to the Cerebral pharmacy, they are screwing over some of their loyal customers. I cannot use my insurance for the treatment and I have been fine with paying the $200+ out of pocket. But I sure as hell will push my prescriber to use my insurance for prescriptions when I'm already paying an arm and a leg out of pocket. Screw your $100 prescriptions Cerebral pharmacy.