As with any other religious movements, there is always a background that gives context to the birth of them. For example, Christianity itself was born within the context of Jewish messianistic movement that was developed under the suffering and inequality of the Jews. Ahmadiyyah movement in Islam was born under similar context of suffering under British colonialist regime. Etc.
What was the context of the birth of asceticism in Christianity? What was the social context that motivated Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and other Desert Fathers to abandon worldly pleasure and pursuit the life of bodily discipline?
The Gnostics were one of the earliest Christian groups to develop an ascetic tradition, largely due to their theological belief that the soul and body are separate and that the flesh is evil. Although Gnosticism was shunned by mainstream Christianity, no doubt many, such as Origen, were influenced by their doctrine. It is telling that the Nag Hammadi, the largest collection of original Gnostic literature discovered so far, was found in a 4th century monastery in Egypt. However, the most prominent early Christian ascetics, such as Justin Martyr and Tatian, came in the 2nd century from the region which today encompasses Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, northern Iraq and eastern Turkey. The Romans called this whole area Syria, and Syrians would have mixed with all sorts of eastern religions, most significantly Manichaeism, which had already developed ascetic and monastic practices. It is believed by some that ascetic monasticism had its origins among the holy men of India, and their practices were spread to the Christian world through Manichaeism.
Monasticism didn't really take off until the late 3rd century, as large groups of Christians fled to the wilderness in order to escape Emperor Diocletian's persecutions as well as heavy taxation. It is unsurprising that monasticism developed in this period in Egypt, as it was particularly well suited geographically to withdrawing from the civilized world. One only needs to walk beyond the limits of the narrow strip of fertile land along the Nile to reach vast expanses of desert ideal for isolated monastic communities. As the persecution ceased, fewer people were willing to live an ascetic lifestyle in the desert, so the first monasteries were actually built in the fertile zone of the River Nile. Monasticism was given a further boost when Christianity was adopted as the state religion of the Roman Empire - a process which began under Emperor Constantine. The Church quickly became very rich and hierarchical, departing from the egalitarianism which characterised early Christianity. This upset a number a thinkers who believed Christianity was a religion of austerity. Many sought a different, extreme mode of life, which can be interpreted as a rejection of the materialistic attitudes of the civilized world and the new imperial Church. This period saw some incredible feats of asceticism, such as those of Simeon who spent several years living on top of an exposed stone pillar. Acts such as these inspired many others to take up a pious life of asceticism in devotion to God. If you want to learn more about this, and Christian history in general, I would recommend Diarmaid MacCulloch's History of Christianity.