he is distracting himself from this one thing that he needs to do, that is to take responsibility for himself. He is experiencing some difficulties in life and is unwilling to shoulder the burdens of unfulfilled expectations (yours and his own.) "I'm not the problem. Look at the things around me, so bleak."
To take responsibility for oneself requires thoughts and actions. Fixing blames takes up time and energy, thus less is spent on the thoughts and actions, less anxiety, feeling more secure.
Happiness is a choice. He has to choose being happy, which takes much more effort than choosing being unhappy.
He needs to love himself more and think of himself as worthy.
(How many young men in the old country want to be in his shoes?)
