The COVID-19 pandemic and other current crises have significantly impacted mental health worldwide. The isolation, uncertainty, and stress caused by these events have led to an increase in mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Studies have shown that individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions are particularly vulnerable, as are those who have lost jobs, suffered financial losses, or experienced social isolation. The increasing prevalence of mental health issues highlights the urgent need for increased mental health support and resources to address the needs of those affected.

Since psychological help is often not accessible for affected persons, the aim of this Sciathon group will be to introduce BrainAId, a website or app that provides personalised first-aid mental health support at your fingertips. BrainAId shall use an AI-powered chatbot that provides evidence-based, well-validated psychological techniques and strategies to help manage the mental health of the user on the go. For this, it is planned that the AI chatbot will advise the user depending on the situation and their current needs using a range of resources, for example, guided breathing exercises, mindfulness exercises, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) tools. Furthermore, a clear, simple, and user-friendly interface as well as a broad range of available languages and possibly the option of voice control shall make it easy to find the support needed.

Within the frame of the Sciathon, we aim to design the web tool/app, decide on the included psychological techniques and strategies, as well as on ways to implement them. We further want to discuss which additional features shall be comprised by the AI-Chatbot (such as linking to external resources)