Bangladesh has launched ‘Montorongo’, the first AI-based mental health companion in Bangla. The service is free and available around the clock, offering support to young people across the country.
Montorongo is built as a non-profit initiative for people between 13 and 30. It lets users track their moods, make sense of what they’re feeling and take small steps before anxiety or depression deepens. The service also offers widely used screening tests, PHQ-9 and GAD-7, along with self-care reminders and practical offline materials.
The design is rooted in local culture. Psychologists oversee the project, with medical students lending support and the chatbot speaks in a way that feels natural, picking up on mood shifts from both words and voice. When needed, it points users towards professional help, while keeping the focus on a shared, community approach to mental wellbeing.
One of the founders, Sanjida Ashekin Sneha, told the Times of Bangladesh, “Our driving force was the country’s neglect of mental health. Here, people rush to hospitals and doctors when they are physically unwell but they do nothing when their minds go through turmoil.”
“We let depression, anxiety, or trauma slowly take over us. We don’t talk about it and often hide it from people who are closest to us. These struggles can linger for years and, in some cases, lead to self-harm or even suicide. Our AI isn’t meant to replace a doctor, but to be a trusted companion, someone you can confide in, knowing your words will remain confidential,” she added.
Organisers plan to take the programme into schools, colleges and universities, using smartphones as a simple entry point to break the stigma around mental health.
In a country where research shows almost one in five adults and more than one in ten children live with mental health conditions, the aim is clear: prevention, awareness and fair access to build resilience from an early age.