Originally coming from his exposure to a radioactive isotope, Murdock didn't know how to handle his powers until he met Stick, who became Matt's mentor and taught him to control and enhance them. 

A testament to the level of skill it requires Matt to even function would be seen when he fought Psylocke during the war between the Avengers and the X-Men, as she was overwhelmed when she tried to read his mind and found herself experiencing all the information he received through his superhuman senses, demonstrating the scale of psychological training required for Murdock to operate on a normal human level.