Emobuddy: AI-powered mental health support for Malaysian university students

Long-term mental health problems have become a bigger factor in Malaysian university students' emotional anguish, academic degradation, and in extreme situations like suicidal thoughts. The accessibility and scalability of conventional counselling services are constrained, especially in Malaysian higher education institutions. This research suggests creating "EmoBuddy," an AI-driven chatbot that would provide Malaysian university students with instantaneous, culturally relevant mental health assistance. To provide individualised coping methods, EmoBuddy utilises adaptive conversation flows in conjunction with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) for screening. According to recent studies, mental health chatbots are particularly useful for reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms in users who are university-aged or young adults (Chen et al., 2025). The goal of this chatbot is to enhance mental health outcomes for students by reducing stigma, encouraging help-seeking behaviour, and offering 24/7 anonymous support (Voon et al., 2024).