Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Healthcare Technology
MindMitra: An NLP and Sentiment Analysis-Driven AI Chatbot for Mental Wellness Support in the Indian Context
Mental health support remains inaccessible to millions due to high costs, stigma, and lack of professionals. This paper presents MindMitra, an AI-powered chatbot that uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) and multi-class sentiment analysis to provide real-time, empathetic, and culturally adapted mental wellness support. The system employs a BERT-based model for six-class emotion classification (Anxiety, Sadness, Anger, Happiness, Neutral, Crisis), integrated with a CBT-based recommendation engine and GPT-based response generation. A key feature is passive emotion detection, eliminating the need for explicit mood input. The system also incorporates an India-specific cultural lexicon to improve relevance. Experimental evaluation shows significant improvements in mental well-being, including a 62% reduction in anxiety and 63% reduction in depression, with 91.4% classification accuracy. The results highlight the potential of AI in scalable and stigma-free mental health care.