HelpStopConnect — Why Connection Matters
Social isolation and loneliness are not side effects of harm — they are often drivers of it.
In gambling disorder, domestic and sexual violence, and mental health distress, people frequently withdraw from community, lose safe social settings, and become disconnected from activities that once supported wellbeing. Over time, this isolation increases stress, shame, anxiety and reliance on harmful coping behaviours.
Clinical understanding of gambling disorder has evolved significantly in recent years. One of the most effective pathways to recovery is not simply stopping gambling, but changing the social settings and environments in which people live their daily lives. This includes reducing exposure to high-risk environments and rebuilding connection through safe, meaningful social activity.
Medical and psychological research increasingly recognises that social connection, movement and shared activity support the body’s natural regulation systems. Activities that involve connection, rhythm, movement and enjoyment stimulate naturally occurring neurochemicals associated with wellbeing — including dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins. These support mood regulation, reduce stress and help counter the compulsive reward-seeking cycles associated with gambling harm, trauma and depression .
HelpStopConnect focuses on reconnection, not prescription. We support people to safely re-engage with community through activities that suit their interests, confidence and circumstances — whether that is gentle social connection, creative expression, movement, or shared learning.
What Reconnection Can Look Like
There is no single pathway to reconnection. For some people, it may involve:
-
Participating in social or creative groups
-
Engaging in music, dance or movement-based activities
-
Joining team sports or group fitness in a supportive environment
-
Taking part in learning-based or interest-based community groups
-
Reconnecting with outdoor or nature-based activities
These activities are not about performance or pressure. Their value lies in shared experience, routine, belonging and enjoyment, which help reduce isolation and restore confidence over time .
HelpStopConnect does not replace clinical treatment or specialist services. Instead, it works alongside them by addressing a core gap that many people face before and after formal intervention: loneliness and disconnection.
How This Fits with HelpStop’s Work
HelpStopConnect recognises social isolation as a co-morbidity of:
By addressing loneliness early, we help reduce escalation into crisis, improve engagement with support services, and strengthen long-term recovery and wellbeing. This approach aligns with prevention-focused, trauma-informed practice and reflects growing evidence that community connection is a critical protective factor in recovery.
Why This Matters
Connection changes outcomes.
When people feel safe, included and supported, they are more likely to seek help, sustain recovery and rebuild their lives. HelpStopConnect exists to make that reconnection possible — with dignity, choice and care.
1. How HelpStopConnect Works
HelpStopConnect is an early-intervention and reconnection pathway for people experiencing social isolation and loneliness linked to gambling harm, domestic and sexual violence, and mental health distress.
Many people affected by harm become isolated before they ever reach crisis services — or after those services end. HelpStopConnect works in this gap.
Our approach is simple and structured:
1. Safe engagement
People connect with HelpStopConnect through referrals or self-referral. Engagement is trauma-informed, voluntary and paced according to individual readiness.
2. Understanding isolation as a risk factor
We recognise loneliness and disconnection as co-morbidities that increase vulnerability to harm, relapse and poor mental health. We focus on restoring connection, not forcing change.
3. Supported reconnection
Participants are supported to re-engage with safe, meaningful social activity suited to their interests, confidence and circumstances. This may include creative, social, movement-based or community activities.
4. Navigation and referral
Where appropriate, HelpStopConnect supports re-engagement with specialist services, including gambling harm, domestic and sexual violence, mental health and financial counselling supports.
5. Ongoing connection
The focus is not short-term participation, but sustainable reconnection — helping people rebuild routine, belonging and confidence over time.
HelpStopConnect does not replace specialist or clinical services. It strengthens them by addressing isolation early and supporting people to remain engaged with help.
2. Safeguards, Boundaries and What HelpStopConnect Is Not
HelpStopConnect operates within clear boundaries to ensure safety, dignity and accountability.
What HelpStopConnect is:
-
An early-intervention and prevention-focused program
-
A connection and navigation service
-
Trauma-informed and dignity-based
-
Complementary to specialist services
-
Delivered through community partnerships and formal MOUs
What HelpStopConnect is not:
-
A crisis response service
-
A clinical treatment or counselling service
-
A replacement for domestic and sexual violence services
-
A gambling treatment program
-
A prescriptive or lifestyle program
Safeguards in place
-
All engagement is voluntary and participant-led
-
Clear referral pathways to specialist services
-
Child-safe and trauma-informed practice
-
Privacy and consent are respected at all times
-
Formal MOUs clarify roles and responsibilities with partners
HelpStopConnect recognises that recovery and wellbeing are not linear. People move at different speeds, and safety always comes first. Our role is to support reconnection without pressure, judgement or duplication of services.
Why this matters
By addressing social isolation and loneliness as co-morbidities of gambling harm, domestic and sexual violence, and mental health distress, HelpStopConnect strengthens prevention, improves engagement with support, and reduces escalation into crisis.
Connection is not an optional extra.
It is a protective factor — and often the missing link.
Reluctance to seek assistance
The research shows there are many reasons why people gamble.
The simplest ones are the adrenaline rush to win money, socialise or escape worries or stress.
These then morph into deeper desires as your brain and body associates this with the production of dopamine, endorphins, Serotonin and Oxytocin which assist you to feel happy and alive and wants to experience more of that sensation.
On a deeper level it can come from a childhood trauma which gambling provides an escape from.
In recent years it has been discovered for boys that online game e.g Fortnite and girls that use social media, any type, which are designed to be addictive and with the combination of energy drinks, which contain sugar and caffeine, hold open a massive door towards gambling in the future, particularly when they have discretionary income and are of age to gamble, which is why there is so much discussions within all governmental levels to address gambling advertising which reinforces the allure.