HowBody·therasafe mind

Mental health support.
In your pocket.

AI-powered conversational support in Pidgin, English, Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo via WhatsApp. Validated PHQ-9 + GAD-7 screening. Human clinician escalation when you need it.

  • WhatsApp-native
  • Clinician-supervised
  • Anonymous
H
HowBody
online
I no fit sleep again. Things just heavy 😔
8:42 PM
I dey hear you. E sound like say e don dey heavy for some time. Wetin happen this week wey make am worse?
8:42 PM
Work just too much. My boss dey shout. I dey feel say I no fit do am
8:43 PM
Wahala for work dey wear person down die. Make I ask you small question for the past two weeks, how often you dey feel down or hopeless?
8:43 PM
The problem

A country of 230 million.
Two hundred psychiatrists.

Mental health is one of Nigeria's biggest hidden crises. Stigma keeps people quiet. Cost keeps therapy out of reach. And the few professionals available are overwhelmed.

200

Psychiatrists for 230M Nigerians

A 1:1.15 million ratio. WHO recommends 1:10,000. Most Nigerians will never see a mental health professional in their lifetime.

₦15-50K

Cost per therapy session

A single private session costs more than minimum wage for an entire week. Therapy is structurally unaffordable for most.

60%

Of mental illness goes untreated

Stigma, cost, and lack of access mean most Nigerians dealing with depression or anxiety never receive any care at all.

How it works

Send a message.
Start where you are.

  1. Open WhatsApp.

    No app to download. No long signup. Save the HowBody number, send a message in your language. The conversation starts the moment you do.

    ⌘ Pidgin · English · Hausa · Yoruba · Igbo

  2. Get supported.

    HowBody listens without judgment. Validated screening tools (PHQ-9, GAD-7) check in on how you’re doing. The AI is trained on therapy frameworks reviewed by Nigerian clinicians.

    ⌘ Available 24/7 — depression, anxiety, stress, grief

  3. Escalate to a real clinician.

    When the conversation needs human care — crisis signals, persistent symptoms, suicide risk — HowBody connects you to a Nigerian-licensed mental health professional. Always free in crisis.

    ⌘ Always with your consent. Always discreet.

Crisis safety system

An AI alone is not enough.
Human supervision is the rule.

Mental health is the highest-stakes context for AI. Therasafetys safety system means HowBody has clinician oversight at every tier and human escalation is automatic, not optional, when it matters most.

Tier 1

AI conversational support

Validated frameworks (CBT, motivational interviewing, mindfulness) deployed in Nigerian language and idiom. For the 80% of conversations that are everyday struggles.

Tier 2

Clinical screening & pattern detection

PHQ-9 and GAD-7 administered conversationally. Longitudinal tracking detects when symptoms escalate. Flags reviewed daily by Nigerian-licensed clinicians.

Tier 3

Immediate human escalation

Self-harm signals trigger instant clinician contact. We never delay. We never automate crisis response. Always free. Always discreet.

  • Suicide ideation
  • Self-harm intent
  • Active psychosis
  • Domestic violence disclosure
Trust & safety

A health tool you can trust.

HowBody is built with the safeguards mental health requires — supervision, privacy, and dignity for every Nigerian who reaches out.

Supervised by Nigerian clinicians

Every safety-relevant conversation is reviewed by licensed Nigerian mental health professionals. The AI doesn’t operate alone — clinical judgement is always in the loop.

Anonymous if you want

You can use HowBody without a real name. We never share your conversations. Your employer, family, school will never see what you talked about.

NDPA-compliant by design

Conversations stored encrypted in Nigerian-residency Supabase. Never sold, never used to train external AI. Built for NDPA 2023 from line one.

Beta access

Join the first 1,000.

HowBodys closed beta launches Q4 2026. Drop your WhatsApp number or email well onboard you in language order: Pidgin, English, then Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo.

  • Free during beta
  • Anonymous onboarding
  • Crisis escalation always free

Join the HowBody beta

We respond to beta requests within a working day.

By signing up you agree to our privacy policy. NDPA-compliant. Unsubscribe anytime.

Mental health support.
Right now.

Join the HowBody beta launching Q4 2026. Be among the first 1,000 Nigerians to access affordable, dignified mental health care via WhatsApp.