Advice Column

People in the industry told me Modern Neurotic never had a chance, that a new magazine targeted toward the chronically anxious would do a quick crash and burn.But our thinking was: Look, millions of people wrestle with unresolved feelings due to unconscious conflict.Why not give them a voice, something besides that inner voice that tells them to run downstairs and make sure the front door is locked for the 34th time?Anyway, the cover of our premier issue was originally supposed to feature an agoraphobic housewife from Pompton Lakes, N.J., peering under a bed at this huge, grinning monster labeled "Our Hidden Fears."

When Dear Abby began giving advice, readers asked: Should you or shouldn't you on the first date?Thirty-six years later, they're still asking.Only difference is, in the '50s, what folks worried about doing was kissing. Now it's sex.And that's one of the tamer issues she deals with."I'm shockproof at this point. You begin to question what is normal," said Abigail Van Buren, who was in Baltimore over the weekend to receive an award from Overeaters Anonymous (OA).While she doesn't condone sleeping together on the first date, the newspaper columnist has changed her mind about premarital sex -- and many other topics.