Sapa

Sapa is Nigerian slang for being suddenly and severely broke. It is used lightly and often — “sapa don catch me” — but the state it describes is one of the most reliable sources of stress in adult life.

Key Points:

• Money worry is a mental health issue, not a separate one: financial strain is strongly associated with anxiety, low mood and disturbed sleep, and it is one of the most common things people bring to a first session.
• The humor is part of the coping: naming it as sapa makes it survivable and shareable. It can also make real distress easy to miss, in yourself and in friends.
• What it does day to day: skipping meals, avoiding calls, withdrawing from people who might ask, and a persistent low-grade alertness that does not switch off.
• It is also a barrier to care: cost is among the most common reasons Nigerians delay seeing a therapist, which is why session prices, subsidized options and employer or HMO cover are worth checking before assuming therapy is out of reach.
• In therapy: a therapist cannot fix your income, but the shame, the catastrophizing at 3am and the decisions made in panic are all workable.