Red State, Blue State: 10 Tips for Feuding Families

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It's normal to disagree

It may help to know that arguments aren't necessarily a sign that your family is dysfunctional.

"If you are willing to get into any depth of a relationship with anyone and be genuine, you will eventually run into areas in which the two of you don't see eye to eye," says Simon Rego, PsyD, director of psychology training at Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx, N.Y. The same is true, of course, in family relationships, he says. Although there usually is less conflict in superficial relationships, Rego says, "You don't get the richness of human connection."

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