Gwyneth Paltrow Is Having A "Nervous Breakdown" Over Her Son Going To College

Gwyneth Paltrow is preparing herself for one of the most transformative elements of motherhood: adjusting to a household without children. As her 18-year-old son Moses prepares to head off to college, the mom of two is having a “nervous breakdown” about this new chapter in her life.

The Goop mogul recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the impending departure of son Moses — whom she shares with ex-husband Chris Martin along with 20-year-old daughter Apple —as he prepares to leave for Brown University in the fall. “It’s kind of giving me a nervous breakdown, if I’m honest,” Paltrow admitted during a Q&A session. “I started being like, ‘Oh my God, and I need to quit my job and I need to sell my house and I need to move.’ It’s sort of putting things into turmoil.”

The mom of two went on to share that her whole identity is wrapped up in being a mother, “so I’ve oriented my whole life around them and their schedules and when school starts. You start to let go in increments when they’re driving themselves around or doing certain things. It is a slower process.”

As Moses prepares to leave, this will mean that Paltrow, who is married to Brad Falchuk and stepmom to his two children, 19-year-old Isabella and 17-year-old Brody, needs to brace herself for a whole new lifestyle. Fortunately for her, she has “a close group of mom friends and we all raised our kids alongside one another. So we’re kind of in it together.”

Paltrow was wise to start bracing herself for this shift in her life last year, when she spoke to E! News about trying to connect with herself and reframe the way she looks at aging as the years go by. “I've always been the person who has tried to get closer and closer to myself and be really true to myself,” the beauty mogul explained, “so I'm trying to explore what that means as I age.”

Becoming an empty nester is a really difficult transition for all moms, and one so few of us prepare ourselves for. Gwyneth Paltrow’s honesty about the identity crisis she faces as her children move away is so important for other moms to see. Because it’s a difficult time for all moms, even super famous ones.