It depends on the kind of relationship you have with the venue.
If it’s a one-off gig, I need the full payment before I even touch the turntables. But there are places I’ve built trust with where I can go a month or even two without collecting my payment but it will be available for whenever I need it.
By the way going for therapy or counselling is healthy. South Sudanese people need to break that stigma that anyone who goes for therapy is mentally unstable or “crazy”. Sometime’s you need to have the tough conversations and face your own demons and heal.