You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Kiwi Farms
Sister services, email, and search will continue to be negatively effected by the attacks. I made a thread to talk about it, if you're into networking.
Recently starting in September, an influx of videos pertaining to a discussion of mental health, depression and anxiety had ignited the new YouTube trend. First emerging after YouTuber Elle Mills' publicised 'YouTube Burnout', a pattern in videos started to emerge in whereby creators suddenly revealed their bouts of 'depression' and mental health problems, meanwhile also promoting the online service BetterHelp as 'another resource to fight depression' and get help, with affiliate links in the descriptions. Notable YouTubers include Boogie2988, Shane Dawson, Phillip DeFranco, and Bobby Burns. This sponsored 'resource' is where the problem lies.
BetterHelp is described as an online therapy service, and advertised as the alternative to face-to-face counselling. BetterHelp is detailed as hosting professional and licensed therapists to tend to your needs, with 24hr availability and access to a host of communication methods, whether it be instant messaging, voice calls, video calls, etc.
Thanks to the help of Memology101's videos and some farmers, BetterHelp is being revealed to be a massive scam that preys on the mentally ill and impressionable fans of content creators. I will try to compile all findings and lists of concerns in this post.
The Pricing
Currently, YouTubers are shilling this as the 'cheaper alternative' to professional counselling, yet scammed customers have come forth in claiming that's not exactly true.
BetterHelp's weekly rates range from $35-$80USD per week. Yet users of the service have complain that they have been randomly charged for two months without refund nor explanation. Some without ever even pairing up with a therapist.
"Licensed Therapists"
The main attraction to BetterHelp's service is derived from its promotion of 'professional and licensed therapists'. However, looking into the terms and conditions of the website shows that not only do BetterHelp hold no liability for the services provided, stating that all responsibility lies within the customer and their counsellor, but they do not assure the quality, skills, certification or even employment of said therapists.
Furthermore, according to their website, BetterHelp is HIPAA (the U.S's Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) certified, yet as pointed out in Memology101's video, their terms and conditions contradict this as they claim no accountability if something were to happen.
Unprofessionalism and Negative Experiences
In light of this knowledge, it's easy to make the connection as to why a large sum of people have a negative experience with BetterHelp. Customers detail the unprofessionalism of therapists they were match up with, and in some cases even rudeness and disrespect. Many users have experienced being outright turned away, due to being in a 'crisis' situation or not suited for BetterHelp's services. This has lead many to believe the company preys on the 'not actually depressed' to better extort them without risk of dealing with a 'real' mentally ill case.
YouTuber Deschroma also made a video detailing her negative experience with BetterHelp.
Shane Dawson's Ploy
I won't go into much detail here as Memology's 5th episode covers it well, but it has been suspected that Shane Dawson's new documentary series on the Paul brothers is really just a marketing gimmick for shilling BetterHelp, as he 'dissects' the brothers' 'sociopathic' tendencies with therapist Kati Morton, who has appeared in a number of videos promoting BetterHelp across YouTube.
Extra Information
I've hopefully roughly covered all the main aspects of criticism in regards to BetterHelp, so now I'll just list some further info and the Memology videos. Thanks to @vhstape for gathering a lot of this data!
Note: This has not been verified by some of the more experienced R&D users on the site. Take everything with a grain of salt, but for expediency's sake we have moved it out to the open.
"BetterHelp, the leading e-counseling service worldwide, today announced FaithfulCounseling.com, a service offering online counseling for Christians. Every counselor on the platform is a practicing Christian who seeks to integrate appropriate faith-based guidance with their clinical practice." https://www.businesswire.com/news/h...rapy-Platform-Launches-FaithfulCounseling.com
Let me know if there's anything else that needs to be added here. Posting it the Multimedia forums because: 1. I heard this thread would be better here and 2. I don't have privileges to the Youtube forum anyway.
EDIT: It's been discovered that a lot of non Phillip DeFranco affiliate link directions have been found to contain Phillip DeFranco's 'Rogue Rocket' tag. The rabbit hole goes even deeper.
This was captured from Boogie's affiliate link, and the video posted by @Hackallier below shows a lot more YouTubers guilty of this, such as The Gabbie Vlogs. I suspect Memology will be doing a video on it soon, so I'll update the OP when that comes out.
UPDATE: Whew lad. The rabbit hole goes through to China now. Here is some of the information that's been dug up/come to light since the original OP (The Condensed Version):
Phillip DeFraudo is a Naughty Boy
It's no secret that DeFranco's ad agency company Rogue Rocket is linked with BetterHelp. Yet, at no point prior or during his shilling of BetterHelp did he state his material connection to them, which has lead us to believe ShillyD has broken an FTC guideline.
PewDiePie:
Felix released a video airing out BetterHelp and its sponsors' dirty laundry for all to see. Now is the time to strap in. Thanks, Pewds! <3
And to the newcomers from PewDiePie's channel, welcome to the farms! Make sure you read the rules before posting.