CareBot

Inspiration

Approximately one in five teenagers between the ages twelve and eighteen suffer from a mental health disorder. This percentage is one that is far too high. I was inspired to create this Discord bot since as a teenager myself, I know how much time many of us spend on platforms such as Discord. By integrating mental health resources into a platform that so many teens already engage with on a daily basis, it makes these resources and support much more readily available. I hope that this bot can act as a non-human support system to those in need, on a platform that many already may feel comfortable and at-home on!

What it does

This bot has a variety of functionalities. When it detects negative words such as "sad", "depressed", "failed", and more, it sends and uplifting message to the user. If a user is feeling uninspired, they can type a command and receive a randomized inspirational quote to cheer them up. When a user in a serious mental health crisis is detected, resources are sent automatically to their direct messages (DM's). It can also send cute puppy and kitten images to users to help lift their spirits- a little cuteness can go a long way!

How we built it

This bot was built using repl.it and discord.py, alongside a few API's (for puppies, kitties, and quotes).

Challenges we ran into

One challenge I ran into was figuring out where to create the bot. I was originally going to use visual studio code, but something went wrong with the installation of the discord.py library, which is why I instead used repl.it. Furthermore, I had trouble with the first dog API that I used, and I had to go to another one before finding one that worked.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Since this was my second hackathon I've ever attended, and the first hackathon I've ever submitted a project to, I'm proud that I was even able to get a project and video together in this short amount of time. In addition, this was one of my first times working with discord.py, so I'm glad that I was able to create a functional discord bot that might end up helping someone in need!

What we learned

I learned how to create simple bots with discord.py and how I can integrate API's within the bot to create cool features, as well as how much can be done in a day if you put effort into getting it done. Most importantly of all, I learned how much fun hackathons can be and I look forward to attending more (possibly in-person) hackathons in the coming future!

What's next for CareBot

In the future, I hope to add on more advanced features, such as real-time chatting with CareBot volunteers and productivity commands. In addition, I'd love to train CareBot to make it into an intelligent bot that can hold uplifting and/or inspiring conversations with its users.

Built With

• cat-api
• discord.py
• dog-api
• repl.it
• zenquotes-api