Wife's sudden jealousy is scary

DEAR AMY >> Recently I told my wife that I planned to reach out to “Sharon,” a former co-worker who is an industry expert, for advice about changing jobs.

My wife angrily and immediately accused me of having an affair with Sharon, and insisted that I wanted to get a job near her to continue the affair.

I have never, ever cheated on my wife. I'm a homebody who works from home. I don't travel for work and rarely go out with friends.

Sharon lives over four hours away. I haven't seen her in over six years, haven't spoken on the phone in years, and we exchange business-related text messages every few months.

I worked with Sharon for three years and my wife never voiced any suspicions. I never saw or talked to Sharon outside of the office when we did work together.

In the 15 years I've been married to my wife she's never acted so irrationally, or accused me of having an affair.

The next day all my wife said was, “I'm sorry. Can we please not talk about this again?” She insists that we should act like nothing happened and that counseling is unnecessary.

I'm deeply hurt that she would even think I'm having an affair. I'm also worried about her mental health because her accusations didn't even make any sense.

Do you have an explanation for my wife's irrational behavior? Should I join her in pretending it never happened?

— Baffled in Baltimore

DEAR BAFFLED >> Your wife reacted in a way that was irrational and unprecedented in your relationship. Your wife is embarrassed by her own behavior; of course she doesn't want to discuss it further!

But I agree with you that it is important that you two discuss this in order to come to a resolution that will satisfy both of you.

Your wife may admit to having long-standing insecurity about this previous work relationship.

She should also be asked to understand how hurtful it is to absorb such a serious, unfounded and unfair accusation.

I agree that because this behavior was so outside the norm for her, there might be an underlying medical, hormonal, or emotional trigger.

Talking further with a calm and mutually compassionate attitude might help to reveal what is really amiss.

There's an old saying that goes: “If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.”

If you don't approve of an unplanned pregnancy, the name chosen for your new grandchild, or the choice of what vegetable your friend wants for dinner, keep your mouth shut.

There's a very old-fashioned quality called tact. Use it.

DEAR AMY >>

— An Old-fashioned Grand

DEAR OLD-FASHIONED >> I agree wholeheartedly with every point you make.