I did something very similar in a PA38 during basic PPL training, on my first solo away from the circuit. I'd flown for about an hour with my instructor in the local area, dodging (& sometimes flying through) the clouds. I told my instructor on landing that I was really looking forward to being able to take the aircraft away from the circuit on my own, and to my surprise he checked the bookings sheet & handed me the keys back with a 'don't be away more than 40 mins... and KEEP OUT OF THE CLOUDS!!!'. What I really wanted to do was fly over my house, which was about 10nm from the airfield but in the opposite direction to the local training area. So once out of sight of the tower, I did a quick course reversal & headed off east. Of course, the cloud cover was much less broken that way.... ....and to cut a long story short, flew straight into one. I just focused on the panel, turned through 180 & was out in a couple of minutes - about the same time as the radio boomed out 'G-xxxx return IMMEDIATELY'. Managed to find my way back around the weather & on landing both myself & the instructor who'd authorised the flight had the pleasure of a long & most uncomfortable 'no tea & no biscuits' session with the CFI, who'd apparently been taking advantage of the weather to conduct IMC training & was horrified to learn that one of the students was out in those conditions solo.
My point in posting this story is this. I survived this very silly misadventure because I'd just done the same thing with an instructor, in the same aircraft, in the same weather, an hour before. Currency & confidence prevented a nasty incident, despite my best efforts to cause one.
Everyone presumably still has to demonstrate some basic ability to fly on instruments in order to get a licence. In theory, any PPL holder should be able to fly themselves out of a cloud in a situation like this. But if a pilot hasn't done it recently in the type they're flying, and their last 50 hours has been spent flying VFR with the autopilot engaged, then it's understandable that they'll frighten themselves badly, panic, and pull the 'chute. IMO every VFR-only pilot would benefit from flying any aircraft they fly regularly in actual IMC with a suitably qualified instructor. But how are folks going to be able to get this potentially life-saving experience if they're flying a VFR-only type?