“I've been using Brightside for a little over a month. It's pretty good for the most part and I'm grateful for it because I had a lot of trouble finding a local psychiatrist. Brightside is unable to prescribe one of my meds because it requires medical observation, so that's kind of a bummer, but that's the only issue I have with it.”
“I avoided taking SSRI's for over a decade but finally decided that I wanted help for my worsening anxiety and depression. Brightside has been great - I get to talk to my doctor from my home and the medication prescribed has done wonders for me. I am so happy that I tried Brightside!”
“Not the most open communication with doctor somewhat predetermined algorithm for meds you might not want. Easy to start medication without having to schedule psych appointments months in advance. Great friendly doctor seems to genuinely care about my mental well being. I'm not sure I'm at a point of trust with technology that I want to let algorithms decide what meds I need instead of the doctor talking to me about what I believe might be best. First prescription took a fairly long time to receive but the refills are early and easy, even though they all come in separate packages on different days.
Also-when I get a check up email survey there's an animation of a graph that's going downwards. I would feel that I'm trying to work my way up from the low point of my depression and not vise versa. Would make a lot more sense to reverse the animation direction”
Thanks for your feedback, Dmytro. We take it seriously and are committed to everyone having a great experience on Brightside. Just to clarify, our algorithm evaluates your information relative to evidence and makes a suggestion to the doctor as to what medication is likely to work best for you. Your doctor than considers that along with other things they may learn about you in your consultation, to determine your treatment plan. The doctor is still the expert here, but the algorithm helps them understand what the evidence suggests.
When we treat depression and anxiety, we're really looking at reducing elevated symptoms associated with these conditions. The standard measures generally go up from 0 for low symptoms to 21 (anxiety) or 27 (depression) for high symptoms. So, in this case going down means reducing symptoms and making positive progress. We'll check in and make sure that's clear in the email.
Best wishes on your path and please let us know if there is anything else we can do to be helpful.
“While I think there's probably no substitute for in-person psychiatrist visits, Brightside is accessible, relatively affordable, and both the website and the psychiatrist on staff are responsive and communicative.”
“I'm still on my journey to feeling like myself again, but I've seen a lot of improvement since joining Brightside. It's affordable, efficient, and most importantly, effective. It's a great option for people like me that can't afford traditional therapy but still want and need help feeling better. I appreciate that the doctor listened to my needs and made some adjustments based on the feedback provided in my check-ins. This has been a great experience so far. Thank you!”
“It’s a little difficult figuring out how to contact the Dr. to give information on side effects I’m experiencing aside from the ones that are asked in the weekly questionnaire. Other than that I like the service a lot :)”
“I live in a remote area with a poor selection of mental health facilities. This allowed me to get the support I needed on my schedule. Perfect fit for my immediate needs!”
“Overall good but I wish there was somewhere where I could make notes to the doctor. For example, I ended up starting the medication 2-3 weeks after I received them, and received new bottles before I’m even halfway through my current bottles.”
“I find many of the website’s features frustratingly lacking. I want to be able to send my doctor a message when I need to, not when I want a medication change/adjustment. I should be able to ask about symptoms or side effects at my leisure. What is the point of having a “personalized provider” if they’re not available like an actual doctor. For the amount of money it costs it should be more helpful. Also: the email notifications are glitchy. If it sends me a notice saying I need to take a status questionnaire, if I open it without clicking on the link then the link will never work. If review is needed I should be able to just click on it on the homepage, not be spammed with emails.”
Thanks for your feedback, Megan. Others have had similar feedback about physician messaging and we agree. We've been building that feature and will be releasing it soon, so it's easier for you to communicate with your doctor outside of the formal review process.
Sorry to hear the check-ins have had issues for you - we'll look into it and make sure they're working smoothly.
