CerebralReviews of cerebral.com

Cerebral has been difficult and now that I’m being prescribed the proper medication they are stopping the prescribing of stimulants. For people that really need them this is unfair and now I will be canceling my subscription to find a new provider to help me. My counselor was awesome, but the first prescriber I had didn’t even treat me like a human. I have had a lot of difficulties even getting a simple antidepressant refilled. I don’t recommend Cerebral. I’m only giving them a second star because my counselor is so amazing.

From the get go Jessica Jenkins had a terrible bedside manner and didn’t listen to my concern after telling her I needed to go up on my medication for awhile. I messaged my “care team” and letting them know I needed a refill 8 days prior still never got my refill or heard back. The only reason I gave this a two is because my counselor Lesa Johnson was an angel in disguise and she really helped me. I wouldn’t recommend Jessica. Hopefully others will have a better experience than I did. I just cancelled.

I have had my prescriber no show my visit twice now. I have been on the call waiting, and she marked me as a no show. The only reason I'm even giving two stars instead of one is because at least my care counselor showed up for her visit, and was kind and helpful. But it is really frustrating and sad that I'm trying to be here to get help, and I'm the one who keeps getting no showed.

Pros: - They (eventually..) connected me with a provider that can prescribe a controlled substance (vyvanse for my ADHD). The hoops I had to jump through were more than what I would need to do if I were to go into a doctor's office. But where I am there are 0 doctors taking new patients for the next 6 months. Cons: - Customer support doesn't seem to know their way around health insurance, the laws surrounding controlled substances, or the Cerebral service. I get it, telehealth touches a lot of grey areas in our healthcare system. But... Cerebral's whole modo is making mental health care easier to access. - The in app messaging function is a glorified email system but it looks like a chat where someone will respond to you within a few minutes. - Care Counselors feel like a waste of time and are inexperienced when it comes to PTSD or deep traumas. My care counselor actually (accidentally of course) triggered some traumas during our first meeting. - I can't imagine what it would be like to use Cerebral if I wasn't already well versed when it comes to my mental health. Inexperienced "care counselors" + prescribers that seem to have too many patients, oh lord. Then again, mental health care in this country is already a dumpster fire so *shrugs*.

The therapist and medication prescriber that I met with with were amazing. Clinically speaking, these folks are great to work with, but the business and administration side of things it truly awful. I have out-of-state insurance since I work for a company that is headquartered out-of-state (pretty common, right?) and have never had a problem using that insurance for in-state providers that were in-network for the insurance company. Cerebral doesn't do that, so I've had to pay out-of-pocket for everything. It gets better: They automatically generate invoices for your charges, but those invoices don't comply with FSA/HSA rules. So unless you're paying cash, out-of-pocket for everything, it's going to be prohibitively expensive. And even if you can get the FSA submitted, the pain in the tuchus cancels out the convenience of doing everything in the app and you may as well get a local referral anyway.

It's alright for what I need it for. I have no health insurance but need to maintain medication. It seems like the turnover is high, so it's pretty difficult to get appointments for prescription refills. The price is steep and I'm trying to get on medicaid to not have the hassle anymore.

While I appreciate the care provided, getting that care is causing me way more stress than its worth. I constantly get reassigned prescriber and counselors without being told. Making appointments is very difficult because the app and website rarely work. I also went almost 2 months without talking to my prescriber or counselor after getting all my medications switched, even after telling my coordinator the situation because my prescriber was 'on vacation'.

I don't think you really want me to. Soon into the the assessment, the NP, said that if I was there for controlled substances she needed to let me know that I wasn't getting any because of my age and heart history. This was in response to my answering her question about the treatment progression of my ADHD. I mentioned being treated with Ritalin; the next Psychiatrist prescribed amphetamines and then my next PCP was a nurse practioner who felt uncomfortable with prescribing either of those meds with her limited knowledge of them. A Psychiatrist referral was unsuccessful as they were all completely booked up. I told her I didn't want a controlled substance. I was bothered because I had just been answering her question. Then further in the assessment my pain medications came up and she went to great lengths to explain that she was not judgemental. That she 'got it'. This was repeated several times in the rest of the assessment. I wish she hadn't said anything about the judgemental because I never would have thought she would be. This and her earlier comment about the controlled substances caused me to believe she was judging as someone who was only there to get controlled drugs. The end she changed and just focused on my depression meds and it was okay. But when I researched Prozac it had the exact same side effects that caused her to say she wouldn't prescribe any controlled substance. I totally agreed with her reasoning, but if Prozac has the same issues with my heart issues, why is it okay? I don't think it is. I am going to keep my therapist appointment and then cancel everything else. I felt so humiliated? embarrassed? angry? I had just written a paper for Masters class about the other side of the opioid crisis. The people with chronic pain and how they are treated. This assessment just solidified the unfair judgment we go through. I may have forgotten to mention some of my meds, but I go through what is in my medicine cabinet. The ones I take every day. My sister wasn't here to help me with the assessment. I fell in March suffering a severe concussion which included amnesia. I struggle to remember some things unless they are right in front of me. I say the names of the meds in that cabinet every morning. That's how I know them. I thought cerebral was here to help. What a shock to get that treatment on my first visit. Sheila Nipper, RN, BSN pursuing my Masters degree in nursing education.