In situations where people feel very little control people will try to create a feeling of that they are in control.

People feel control in different ways but mostly its defined as "I have a feeling I get to decide and that I have some control on the outcome."

When people feel they didn't have a choice to decide and when they feel like they have no control on an outcome they will take extreme measures to create some type of feeling in their reality that everything is okay.

Extreme times lead to extreme examples of human psychology.