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.
