How to be more optimistic and positive, from an expert who wrote a book about it

‘Optimism Doctor’ and bestselling author Deepika Chopra shares how to reframe your view of bad scenarios and why it may help you live longer

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“Optimism Doctor” Deepika Chopra says real optimism is grounded in reality and fully acknowledges hardship and uncertainty, because none of us is immune to struggle.
Photo: Deepika Chopra

Published: 7:15am, 7 Jun 2026Updated: 12:00pm, 8 Jun 2026

Three years ago, Dr Deepika Chopra was just months into writing a book about optimism when she found herself confronting a crisis that threatened to dismantle everything she thought she understood about hope.

Her son was two-and-a-half years old when, as she recalls it, their lives changed “out of nowhere”.

“One moment he was playing with his brother, and the next moment we were in the hospital dealing with a rare, serious medical issue,” says the Los Angeles-based psychologist and author. “It shattered us.” She declines to name the condition.

Chopra with her two sons, one of whom suffered a serious medical issue that affects one in half a million children. Photo: Instagram/drdeepikachopra

Despite being known as the “Optimism Doctor”, she confesses she is not the most optimistic of people. “I don’t err on the side of optimism. I’ve had to work on, develop and cultivate [it].”

Even with all she had learned, Chopra – no relation to wellness guru Deepak Chopra – found it challenging to reframe her thinking in the aftermath of her son’s diagnosis. Instead, she had to find a way to accept that her son happened to be one of the two in a million children diagnosed with the condition.

“The doctors said it was just bad luck,” she says. “I was completely paralysed for a few months. I couldn’t eat or sleep, and could only ask myself, ‘How can this happen?’ It brought on so much rage.”

Despite this, Chopra finished her book, The Power of Real Optimism: A Practical Science-Based Guide to Staying Resilient, Curious, and Open Even When Life is Hard. Published by Simon & Schuster in March, it has gone on to become a USA Today bestseller.

How to be more optimistic and positive, from an expert who wrote a book about it

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘Optimism Doctor’ and bestselling author Deepika Chopra shares how to reframe your view of bad scenarios and why it may help you live longer

‘Optimism Doctor’ and bestselling author Deepika Chopra shares how to reframe your view of bad scenarios and why it may help you live longer