The Power of Intent: A Mental Health Battle Protecting My Mental Inheritance in Systematic Constraints

Written, edited, created, and published By Nisa Pasha — Executive Political Health Guru, Peer Counselor, and Educator, MentalHealthRevival.org

Introduction

As a political mental-health peer counselor and educator, I’ve learned that understanding an individual’s purity of intent, their behavioral patterns, and their relationship to power is not a luxury—it’s a survival skill.

In the environments I navigate, from community health rooms to policy roundtables, I witness how people’s motives, traumas, insecurities, and cultural lenses shape the way they show up. And because I operate at the intersection of health, diversity, and politics, I’ve had to become intentional about choosing my battles to protect my own mental equilibrium.

Working in these spaces taught me a hard truth:

Every interaction carries a psychological price tag.

Not everyone deserves access to your clarity, your emotional labor, or your inheritance of knowledge and strength.

In this role, I don’t just analyze people—I evaluate systems, histories, and the unspoken power dynamics that shape behavior. Understanding who stands before me and what system stands behind them becomes essential to preserving my mental state in a political world designed with order, hierarchy, and hidden agendas.

Understanding Purity of Intent

Understanding purity of intent means learning how to recognize *why* a person is acting the way they are, not just *what* they are doing. In mental health and peer support spaces, this understanding is essential because behaviors are often influenced by trauma, fear, stress, or past experiences with power and control. Purity of intent does not mean someone is perfect or always behaves well. Instead, it refers to whether a person’s actions are honest, consistent, and aligned with their stated purpose, or whether their behavior is driven by manipulation, projection, or unresolved emotional pain.

As a peer educator, I pay close attention to whether a person’s words match their actions. When someone communicates openly, respects boundaries, and takes responsibility for their impact, their intent is usually grounded in integrity. In contrast, when someone says one thing but repeatedly does another, shifts blame, or creates confusion, it may signal internal conflict or emotional “spillover” that can affect others. Recognizing this difference helps protect mental and emotional well-being, especially for people who have experienced trauma or systemic harm.

Purity of intent is also important in environments shaped by hierarchy, such as healthcare, social services, or political systems. In these settings, power imbalances can distort behavior. A person may appear supportive while quietly prioritizing control, reputation, or compliance. For individuals with disabilities or mental health conditions, this can feel especially unsafe, as mixed messages can undermine trust and self-confidence. Learning to assess intent allows individuals to navigate these systems with greater awareness and reduced self-blame.

Importantly, understanding intent does not require judging or labeling others as “good” or “bad.” Instead, it allows for informed decision-making. When we understand that someone is acting from fear, insecurity, or institutional pressure, we can choose how much access they have to our time, energy, and personal information. This awareness supports healthy boundaries and helps prevent emotional exhaustion.

For mental health consumers and peers, developing this skill is empowering. It shifts the focus away from trying to change others and toward protecting one’s own mental stability. Understanding purity of intent supports safer relationships, clearer communication, and more intentional engagement—especially in systems where clarity and respect are not always guaranteed.

When I speak of purity, I’m not talking about perfection. I’m referring to a person’s authenticity, whether their actions align with their words, and whether their presence is clean or contaminated by the residue of manipulation, ego, or projection.

As a peer counselor, I must assess:

• who walks in with honesty

• who carries emotional waste

• who brings solutions

• who brings chaos

• who will drain me

• who will partner with me

In the political lens, purity matters because politics is full of hidden motives, alliances, and performative concern. If I don’t understand purity, I risk fighting battles that do not belong to me.

Choosing My Battles: Protecting

My Mental Inheritance

In my work as a mental health peer educator, I have learned that engaging in every conflict that appears is not a sign of strength—it is a direct path to emotional exhaustion. If I attempted to fight every battle placed in front of me, I would quickly become depleted and unable to serve myself or others effectively. For this reason, I pause and assess each situation carefully. I ask whether the issue supports my purpose or drains my energy, whether it is rooted in a systemic problem or a personal projection, and whether the individual involved is acting from integrity or unresolved emotional distress. I also consider whether engagement will lead to understanding and growth or pull me into ongoing emotional harm. My mental inheritance—clarity, intuition, wisdom, and emotional grounding—is a limited and valuable resource. Protecting it through intentional boundaries is not avoidance; it is strategic preservation and an essential mental health skill.

Navigating a Systematic World of Order

Political and institutional environments are built on structure, hierarchy, rules, and control, and health systems often reflect the same rigid design. As an educator and peer counselor, I function as a bridge between people and these systems, helping each side understand the other. To do this responsibly, I must recognize who is working in service of the system, who is constrained by it, who is being harmed by its limitations, who may be using it as a tool of control, and who is actively working toward reform. This level of awareness allows me to separate behaviors driven by personal choice from those shaped by systemic conditioning, fear, or survival. Without making this distinction, it becomes easy to misinterpret actions, internalize systemic harm, or misdiagnose both the environment and my own responses within it.

Concluding Thoughts

In a world of systems, politics, cultural intersections, and hidden motives, understanding a person’s behavior and purity is essential to protecting my mental health and preserving the inheritance of strength that I carry.