Pop open "filter preferences" in adblock plus, and add the following rules to hide mentions from people who don't follow you (and who you don't follow).
For the interactions/notifications page:
twitter.com##.interaction-page [data-follows-you="false"][data-you-follow="false"]:not(.my-tweet)
For the mentions page:
twitter.com##.mentions-page [data-follows-you="false"][data-you-follow="false"]:not(.my-tweet)
You can disable these at any time, and re-enable them only during emergencies.
Note that the above rules will also hide threaded replies from an expanded tweet; if you don't want that, use these rules instead:
twitter.com##.interaction-page .stream > .stream-items > .stream-item > [data-follows-you="false"][data-you-follow="false"]
twitter.com##.mentions-page .stream > .stream-items > .stream-item > [data-follows-you="false"][data-you-follow="false"]