Most of the time, people don't like to feel helpless.
It's unpleasant to feel like the circumstances we're living in are outside of our control. Some people get into the habit of feeling like they don't have any control over their lives. So eventually they don't have any control.
I think a lot of that comes from an inability or unwillingness to decide what they want. Because once you know what you want, you more or less know what you have to do to get it. Even if you don't know how to get what you want, you at least know that the first thing you need to do is figure out how to get what you want.
But people who don't know what they want are at the mercy of their whims. (Which, in the long run, means they're at the mercy of other people who know what they want.) They live their lives reacting to circumstances and trying to get their needs met in the moment.
Today's world offers no shortage of traps for people who don't know what they want. Everybody's willing to offer you something to take away the pain, boredom, or anxiety of the moment. But you're the only one who can give form and structure to your existence.