Giving them any attention whatsoever, even in private, legitimizes them— even in their own minds. This is why they do whatever they can to provoke you into giving them attention in the first place. The minute you give them any attention, you give them power, and that’s what they truly crave the most. Because they are weak, and that’s why they cling to these delusional beliefs in the first place; they’re desperately grasping for control over their own lives in a world where they have no control, and that terrifies them. As a result, that manifests in an absolute need to control everything and everyone around them.