Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘Very Intense’ Public Life Fills Her With ‘Dread’

Gwyneth Paltrow is getting raw and honest about her struggles with anxiety. 

The actress and businesswoman revealed that she is battling anxiety for the first time in her life, and she often finds herself getting triggered by seemingly little things.

To cope, Paltrow is seeing therapists and leaning on family and friends for support. 

During the most recent episode of Paltrow’s “The Goop” podcast, the actress shared that she has found herself facing a mental health struggle she has never faced before. 

“I have a lot of anxiety for the very first time in my life, which is just a symptom of hormonal changes,” she said. 

The 53-year-old star spoke about how estrogen dominance has made her “really anxious,” alongside being famous. “So part of it is physiological, part of it is psychological, part of it’s emotional and part of it’s public life,” explained.

The “Iron Man” actress recalled living “a very intense life in the public eye,” and being affected by other people’s opinions, so much that it “frays” her nervous system. 

Paltrow’s mental health struggles have also affected her physically. She shared that although her sleep is still “pretty okay,” she often goes to bed feeling exhausted and wakes up with a racing heart. 

“My sleep is still pretty okay, but sometimes I wake up first thing in the morning and I’m filled with dread. But it’s never been who I am, so there’s a lot of parts to it, but definitely there’s a big nervous system component,” she added. 

Paltrow’s anxiety got to a point where she would find herself allowing small things such as a negative work email to feel like a “slap in the face.” As such, she is actively working towards wiring herself to adjust the way she reacts to bad news. 

The Golden Globe winner is seeing a nervous system specialist and a therapist to help her manage her anxiety. She is also leaning on her family and friends, who have proven to be a great support system for her. 

“And then I get a lot of healing from my family, from my kids, and my husband. If I can be with everyone, especially if all four kids — my stepkids and my kids — and my husband and I, if we’re under one roof, my nervous system calms down,” she said. 

In addition to feeling anxious, Paltrow also said that she has “a bit of ADD” and can “sort of get pulled in lots of directions.” As such, she is being more intentional about managing her time and doing things that make her feel “grounded throughout the day.” 

Despite struggling with anxiety, Paltrow has still held the fort at her lifestyle and wellness company, Goop. 

When there were rumors of an unhealthy work environment at Goop, the actress addressed them, saying, “That bothers me. ‘Oh, Goop has a toxic culture.’ That drives me insane because we have never had that.” 

According to The Blast, she stressed that her company has a “good culture,” which she is proud of because she has “worked so hard” on it. She also noted that while there may have been “toxic” employees in the past, Goop remains a healthy company with a “highly collaborative” team culture. 

In addition to negative rumors about her company, Paltrow has also been perceived as Hollywood’s “Ice Queen.” However, she recently cleared the air about the misrepresentation, saying that she no longer wants to live with an untrue representation of who she truly is.

As The Blast reported, the “Country Strong” star acknowledged that she is often surprised by the image people have painted of her, noting that she doesn’t know where they get the ideas from.