loan shark hell; distress from high-interest loans
Refers to the severe financial and psychological distress caused by borrowing from loan sharks, including aggressive collection practices and spiraling debt.
I fell into loan shark hell and had many sleepless nights.
It took that family years to escape from the distress of high-interest loans.
借金地獄 is a broader term for debt hell from any kind of borrowing, while サラ金地獄 specifically involves high-interest consumer loans from loan sharks.
Compound of サラ金 (abbreviation of サラリーマン金融, 'salaryman finance', referring to consumer loan companies) and 地獄 (hell).