Bagas Juwono Priambodo shows a prototype of the Curhatin application on a smartphone

Kampus ITS, ITS News – The lack of awareness among Indonesians on the topic of mental health in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic situation can certainly cause problems. In response to that, three students of the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) successfully created Curhatin, an application that provides online psychology consulting services.

They are Bagas Juwono Priambodo, Ihdiannaja, and Yuki Yanuar Ratna. The three of them are students of the Department of Informatics Engineering, class of 2017. By forming a team, they created an application that offers online psychology consulting services.

Bagas Juwono Priambodo, the team leader, said that Indonesian people are considered to be lacking in their concern on mental health. Many citizens still think that mental health consultation is not necessary. “Some of them are even ashamed to have their mental health checked and consulted,” he revealed.

This young man who is familiarly called Bano continued that in this current situation of facing Covid-19 pandemic, psychological problems in the Indonesian society is increasing. Excessive fear and worry are some of the reasons that calls for the emergence of mental health problems today. “But even so, this still does not make people aware of the importance of mental health,” he added.

The poster that displays members of the team alongside the prototype of the Curhatin application

Bano added that his team tried to help the community realize and become more concerned about mental health, especially in a pandemic situation like today. Thus, they implemented the idea to create an online psychological counseling application called Curhatin. “Maybe with the innovation of an online psychology application, it makes people not lazy and no longer embarrassed to consult,” he hoped.

This student further explained that Curhatin is an android-based mobile application. This application is equipped with various psychological services that aim to help the community. Its services include antistress tips, consultations with psychologists, stress healing methods, stress monitoring, and personal journal-keeping records.

Bano said that the feature of consultation with psychology experts will be carried out by sending messages, having a call, as well as video calling. People can freely choose an option according to their individual needs and preference. “We plan to coordinate with the Persatuan Dokter Spesialis Kedokteran Jiwa Indonesia (PDSKJI),” he claimed.

This student undergoing his sixth semester also elaborated on the concept of some features in the Curhatin application. The plan is that features of the antistress tips service, stress monitoring, and several other tips will be presented in the form of videos and articles. “This feature will also educate people about mental health,” he explained.

The prototype of Curhatin, an online psychology consultation service application made by a team of ITS students

Bano is targeting that around July or August, this application called Curhatin will already be implemented.  In the near future, they will also determine whether there will be any cost and consulting method with the psychologists. “Because as of now, we have not decided on the issue of cost and method,” he said.

This team is guided by three lecturers, namely Ridho Rahman Hariadi S.Kom., M.Sc., as the main supervisor, Siska Arifiani S.Kom., M.Kom., Adhatus Solichah Ahmadiyah S.Kom., M.Sc., and Hadziq Fabroyir S.Kom., Ph.D.

Thanks to their huge concern for the mental health of Indonesian citizens, through the application idea of ​​Curhatin, Bano and their team had a major success in the INA IDEAthon Covid-19 competition held by the Ministry of Research and Technology/National Research and Innovation Agency (Kemenristek/BRIN). They were also included in the 17 Best Ideas, which also means that they are chosen in competition against other 5,590 ideas from all over Indonesia that were announced online last Friday (8/5).

This alumnus of the PB Soedirman Cojantung High School hopes that Curhatin can really help the psychological problems of the community in this current pandemic or even during the post-epidemic. Bano hopes this application can be implemented and run according to its original purpose. “I also hope that people can begin to realize the importance of mental health,” he concluded hopefully. (dil/ory/ ITS Public Relations)