We do a lot of CT imaging in the emergency department and it sucks if we incidentally find an abnormal growth in a young patient's CT head. These are usually benign and often not worth performing brain surgery to get a biopsy.
My two cents. If a dependency is paid, than it is usually bad. Because the company providing that dependency has an incentive to lock you in.
As another point, "dependency minimalism" is a nice name for it. https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/1880324753170256005
The upside of paying for something is that, assuming the owner or company is stable, I don't have to worry about some unpaid solo maintainer burning out and never logging back in.
The real question is can they do a better job than no therapist. That's the option people face.
The answer to that question might still be no, but at least it's the right question.
Until we answer the question "Why can't people get good mental health support?" Anyway.
The same thing is being argued for primary care providers right now. It makes sense on the surface, as there are large parts of the country where it's difficult or impossible to get a PCP, but feels like a slippery slope.
EDIT: For people wondering why I think it's worse in Europe, it's because in Europe the ruling class and the universities are on the same side. And when I say Europe, I mean UK, France and Germany.