@ghost-of-a-duke said"You don't lose when you lose fake friends." -- Joan Jett, "Fake Friends"
It is a chore, you're right. It's an almost childlike approach to communicating, isolating and repeatedly focusing on one particular fragment and covering his ears to any responses, pretending at times they haven't even been made.
When you were down they were never there
When you're all alone you really get to learn
If you get back up they gonna come around
All the sycophants they love to make romance
To the ugly sound of 'em tellin' you what you
Wanna hear an' you pretend
Cuz they all agree you're supposed to have a better life
But you're feelin' worse
An' they build you up till you fool yourself that you're
Something else an' it's like a curse cause
You can't live up to what they made of you
An' they tell you that you're losin' friends
Losin' friends, losin' friends
Ya got nothin to lose
Ya don't lose when you lose fake friends