One of the hardest forms of addiction to break is addiction to an emotional state. When you're addicted to stress and anger and depression, it doesn't matter what is happening in your life, you will find something to stress out and become angry about (which will then turn into depression).
Stress and anger give us a short boost of adrenaline, which gives us a temporary high, and make us feel like we're in control of situations that we're totally not--after all, we're caring about the situation, and that's like doing something, isn't it? And then depression kicks in once we realize just how powerless (or, if not powerless, ineffectual) we are--and, as a nice little button, often helps us embrace victimhood as an excuse for not making the changes in our lives that would end the cycle.
Eventually, we get habituated to existing in a particular mental state, and WILL find whatever way is available to keep us in that mental state. My theory is that half the people in the world (probably more) who follow either sports or politics only do so because they want an excuse to be outraged at any given time.
And here's where it comes back 'round to the comic: Marten lives in a headspace of uncertainty and a vague sense of mild depression. That's home to him; it's where he's comfortable, because he understands it. He doesn't enjoy it (who would?), but, speaking as someone wallowing in a crappy job, apartment, and city, I gotta tell you, it's hard to leave the devil you know for the angel you don't.
Marten isn't Al Bundy--he doesn't have to stay in a particular headspace because the series would be over without it, so I don't think that this is just a way of maintaining the status quo. Really, Jeph has never been a creator who embraces the status quo style of comic-writing; I think this is Jeph really playing out the character logically: Marten grabs things that he think will make him happy, but, because he isn't changing the way he approaches life, he ends up spoiling it for himself by hunting down whatever will ruin the experience for him. The fact that he recognizes that is a good thing, though... if he does something about it.
So, really, this was probably just a thing that happened on the way to other things and its immediacy is the only thing giving it real importance (although it is a nice little ticking time-bomb in his friendship with Elliot).