Upcoming Documentary Explores How Personal Burnout Mirrors a Deeper Ecological Crisis
Award-winning documentary from a Planetary Health Alliance member explores how personal burnout mirrors a deeper ecological crisis – and why understanding that connection may be the key to restoring balance.
This film invites us to stop seeing burnout as a personal flaw — and instead as feedback from a broken system. We can’t heal the planet without healing ourselves — and we can’t do either until we understand we’re part of the same system.
Filmmaker Nivi Jaswal-Wirtjes
Founder and President of The Virsa Foundation Inc.
Marking a decade of Planetary Health, this series features stories from our member organizations, reflecting the movement’s growth, impact, and vision for a healthier future for both people and the planet.
In an upcoming award-winning documentary, Planetary Health Alliance member The Virsa Foundation centers global consumption and food systems, exploring how personal burnout mirrors a deeper ecological crisis – and why understanding that connection may be the key to restoration of balance.
“Third Degree Burnout – A Survivor’s Guide isn’t just a wake-up call – it’s a survival guide. It shows how our physical and mental exhaustion is deeply entangled with the collapsing systems around us,” says narrator John Morales. Morales, an Emmy Award-winning meteorologist and one of the U.S.’s top hurricane experts, gained global attention for his emotional on-air breakdown during Hurricane Milton in 2024 – a moment that sparked global conversations about climate grief.
The documentary, currently active in the film festival circuit, blends 26 expert interviews with 15 dramatized skits, following two fictional characters across time and culture. From colonial plantations to corporate boardrooms, their stories reflect the universal struggle to stay human in systems designed for extraction, not healing.
The filmmaker, Nivi Jaswal-Wirtjes, is the Founder and President of The Virsa Foundation Inc, a women-led nonprofit connecting personal, public, and Planetary Health through transdisciplinary research, creative storytelling, and expert collaboration. She leads the JIVINITIResearch and Advocacy program to uplift the lived experiences of historically marginalized communities—especially women, youth, and people of color – while exploring the deep links between food systems, lifestyle choices, mental health, and planetary resilience.
Visit the film’s website to discover burnout healing resources, explore other media assets, and follow their social media to see if the film is screening at a festival near you.
