Sisters tend to be close – so why do sisters-in-law so often go to war with one another?

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. We are not close enough for you to talk about my hormones.” Then there are the myriad examples peppered throughout popular culture, from the fraught relationship between Alexis Colby and Krystle Carrington in TV hit Dynasty to Scarlett O’Hara and Melanie Hamilton’s sister-in-law “bond” in Gone With the Wind. “The sister-in-law dynamic can be challenging for a variety of psychological and social reasons, instilling feelings of jealousy and competitiveness,” says relationship therapist and mental health expert, Sophie Cress. “When I showed her, she counted the number of guests on each ‘side’ and then proceeded to tell me that her parents would be offended about how many more people were coming from my family than theirs.” Rebecca’s marriage lasted five years and, during this time, the relationship with her sister-in-law never eased up. “It’s a loud family, and a big one, and making your mark and feeling comfortable in your role within it is tricky, so when you have this mirror being held up to you to show you perhaps what you should be doing differently, or maybe how people might be responding differently to someone else in a different position, it was just all too easy to feel tension towards each other, rather than support each other.” A simple talk can often uncover misunderstandings and clarify the air Relationship therapist and mental health expert, Sophie Cress And though she reflects on why the dynamic unravelled as it did, she’s at peace with the way things stand.