Summary
mitr is a companion for ordinary days. You bring what is on your mind, and it answers with one idea at a time from the Bhagavad Gita and related texts, explained in plain language. Around that sit a short daily practice, a private place to write, and ways to find people and gatherings near you.
It is not therapy. It cannot diagnose or treat any condition, and it should not be the only source of support when you are struggling.
What it does
You describe what is on your mind in your own words. mitr responds with material from the Bhagavad Gita and related texts, in plain language. A conversation takes about five minutes.
You can type or speak, and replies can be read aloud. A daily check-in covers five areas: mind, body, heart, soul and rest. Your responses determine which practice the app suggests that day. More about the daily practice.
The app also provides verse search in plain language, with an exact book, chapter and verse citation on every result; short practices for difficult moments; a shared Intention Wall where posts are anonymous by default; a way to find temples, centers and gatherings nearby, and online ones, offered as suggestions we do not verify and with no booking or payment handled by us; and the Peace Journal, a private place to write, where nothing is posted or shown to anyone.
The app is designed for ordinary days. If you are in crisis, use a helpline instead.
What we claim, and what we do not
We believe a short daily practice may help some people feel steadier. That is a wellbeing claim, not a medical one.
We do not claim that mitr treats anxiety, depression or any other condition. We do not claim it is clinically proven. We have not conducted a clinical trial. We do not yet know which users benefit, and we will say so until we have evidence.
The evidence base
We reviewed the research before designing the product. Several findings constrained what we built.
- AI supplements human care rather than replacing it. This is the most consistent finding in the literature we reviewed, and it is why mitr is positioned as a companion rather than a treatment.
- Chatbots detect crisis unreliably. Studies have recorded indifferent responses to clear indications of distress. mitr is therefore not designed for crisis use, and the link to helplines appears on every screen and is never gated by subscription status.
- Dependency is a documented risk. Research records users forming attachments to AI systems, and a pattern in which an AI first reduces loneliness and then displaces human contact. The product is designed against that outcome.
- The evidence on companion applications is mixed. Many studies are small, drop-out rates are high, and positive results are published more often than null ones. Comparative studies generally find human therapists more useful than chatbots. This does not make the category worthless, but it does mean no one should claim more than the evidence supports.
We publish no effectiveness figure, because we do not have one that would withstand scrutiny. On citations, our standard is that no verse is better than an incorrect one. If mitr provides a citation that does not hold up, report it and we will correct it.
Who it is for
Adults aged eighteen and over. mitr is not designed for children or young people.
If you are being treated for a mental health condition, mitr can sit alongside that care but does not replace it. It is not a substitute for your clinician, and it is not a second opinion on anything they have told you. If you are unsure whether it is right for you, ask them.
How the AI works
Responses are generated by an AI model. They are not written in advance, and no member of staff reads your conversation in order to reply to it.
The model can be wrong. It can misread what you meant, state something about the tradition inaccurately, or describe a verse in a way a scholar would correct. We test for these failures and continue to find and fix them.
It is not a person. It does not know you as a friend would, and it cannot detect that something is different about you today.
The verses shown are our own plain renderings of the source texts, not word-for-word translations, and no religious or academic body has endorsed them. For study or devotional use, consult an authoritative translation.
What mitr will not do
- It will not present itself as a person, or as a replacement for one.
- It will not sell your data, and conversations are never used to train AI models. Our privacy policy sets out the detail.
- It will not place crisis resources behind a subscription or a setting.
- It will not claim to treat a condition.
Questions
mitr is available on the App Store and on Google Play. See common questions, email team@bewithmitr.com, or use the support page.
