Human nature often struggles with personal responsibility. When failure or hardship strikes, the immediate reaction is frequently to look outward for someone to blame, sometimes even pointing an accusing finger at God, rather than looking inward to recognize one's own mistakes. A person's foolishness twists and ruins their path, affecting their work, business, and overall journey through life [אבן עזרא, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת ציון]. As a result of these self-inflicted failures, a person's heart fills with anger and sadness [מצודת ציון, אבן עזרא].
The primary approach among commentators is that people bring their troubles upon themselves through a lack of wisdom. God granted humanity the ability to choose good by following the laws of wisdom, but human doubt and foolishness cause people to stray from the straight path [מלבי״ם]. On a practical level, individuals often act poorly by using improper methods to achieve their goals [רלב״ג], or they chase unnecessary luxuries, placing themselves in needless danger and causing self-harm [עמנואל הרומי]. On a spiritual level, a spirit of foolishness leads people to sin, and these wrongdoings create spiritual accusers that bring about disaster [חומת אנך, רש״י].
When reality sets in and a person fails, instead of understanding that their own actions led to this state and choosing to repent [חומת אנך], they stubbornly refuse to admit guilt [מצודת דוד]. Rather than turning to God to ask for help and salvation [אבן עזרא], they become angry with Him and question His justice. A person might claim that God is punishing them for no reason and unfairly withholding what they desire [רלב״ג], or they might complain that God did not create them properly or show them the correct path [מלבי״ם]. Driven by frustration and foolishness, an individual might even go so far as to completely deny free will, arguing that all their actions and life events, whether good or bad, were entirely forced upon them by God [אמרי דעת].
This lack of accountability is especially common among those who sin unintentionally. Someone who commits wrongs without paying attention tends to take their actions lightly. When hardship arrives as a consequence, they feel completely pure and innocent. They become angry with God, wondering what crime they possibly committed. This echoes the reaction of Joseph's brothers, who, upon facing sudden trouble, wondered what God was doing to them, completely failing to connect the hardship to their own past actions [אלשיך, רש״י]. Ultimately, among all the hardships that affect humanity, whether natural disasters or harm caused by others, the most common and severe are those people bring upon themselves through bad choices and negative character traits. However, an unwillingness to accept this bitter truth leads people to blame God's decrees rather than confronting their own personal flaws [עמנואל הרומי].