Initial display of the MELON application, the idea of ​​​​the ITS student team to help people with mental disorders

ITS Campus, ITS News – Although it has become a common topic of discussion, mental health is still a stigma for some people, including students. To help people with mental disorders feel safe and comfortable when talking about their mental health, five students at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) initiated a mental health consultation service application known as MELON (Mental Online Assistant).

Akhmad Miftakhul Ilmi, Team Leader, said mental health is still one of the unresolved problems in society, both at the national and global levels. According to him, detecting people with mental disorders makes this problem even more challenging. “This is also made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.

The student, often called Miftah, revealed that according to the 2018 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) data, more than 19 million teenagers in Indonesia have mental disorders. Although the figure is relatively high, talk about mental health is still considered taboo in Indonesia. “They shouldn’t be stigmatized that can have a bad impact such as being ostracized or discriminated against; it’s them we need to support,” he said again.

Various features of the MELON application were initiated by the ITS student team to help people with mental disorders.

Based on this, Miftah and his team designed this mental health service application. Through the MELON application, people with mental disorders can consult online comfortably. “Users can also conduct an initial examination of their mental health, then MELON will provide suggestions to improve their mental condition,” said Miftah.

This third-year student explained that in building the MELON application, the clustering analysis method was used to form groups that were used as a reference in determining recommendations for users according to their mental conditions. “Our system divides the group into three, namely low, moderate and severe risk mental health disorders,” he added.

The MELON application also has a Let’s Get It feature, which contains various sub-features that can be utilized according to the user’s interests. Namely, MELON Healing includes different meditation-videos, and MELON Literature contains articles related to mental health and MELON Music. “Hopefully, this feature can relieve the mental disorders suffered by users,” said the student from the Statistics Department.

Another feature is the chatbot that allows users to interact interactively. Users can safely tell about their condition then the chatbot feature will respond and provide recommendations that vary depending on the user’s condition. “In addition, we plan to integrate the MELON application with psychologists and medical centers from various universities,” he said.

(from left) Dede Yusuf P Kuntaritas, Andrea Ernest, Akhmad Miftakhul Ilmi, Lilik Setyaningsih, and Aulia Kharis Rakhmasari are the ITS student team that initiated the MELON application

Other members of this team are four students who are also from the Statistics Department. Consisting of Andrea Ernest, Aulia Kharis Rakhmasari, Dede Yusuf P Kuntaritas, and Lilik Setyaningsih. In the future, the team hopes that the MELON application design will be realized soon so that it can be used by students who need it. In addition, students are expected to be more open about their mental health.

Through an innovation entitled MELON (Mental Online Assistant): An Artificial Intelligence Application to Assist Indonesian College Students in Reducing Mental Health Problems, Miftah and her team won a gold medal in ASEAN Innovative Science Environmental and Entrepreneur Fair (AISEF) 2022 Social Science and Technology category, recently. (ITS Public Relation)

Reporter: Tyara Novia Andhin