Inexperienced Cessna 172 pilot encountered unintended flight into IMC and suffered spatial disorientation. ATC provides an assist.

Narrative

Visibility was 4 miles; but as I approached rising terrain under flight following; the combination of haze and clouds had the effect of causing horizontal visibility to appear much lower than indicated. I climbed aggressively to remain out of the clouds and reach blue sky. The Controller called to provide vectors to help me avoid traffic; but due to the high workload of the situation; I found myself overloaded to an extent that is not typical for me. After some initial confusion; I started a right turn as requested; but it may not have registered on the Controller's equipment yet as he questioned if I was turning right. This caused me to become more confused; as I took this to mean that I should have turned left to the heading (although I had been turning the correct way). Still unnerved from my first real encounter with low visibility haze; I was not thinking clearly. I should have said 'unable;' rather than to try and comply; but I had my hands full just flying the plane and remaining VFR. It felt not unlike regressing to a student pilot for a few brief moments; where all I could handle was flying the plane. I apologized to the Controller and; fortunately; the rest of the flight went well as I returned to my regular self. As a remedy; when appropriate; I am not going to be shy to say 'unable' in the future and I will finish my Instrument Rating as soon as possible (I went for a lesson the every next day).