Getting out of the house

An acqauintance of mine has a difficult time getting out of her home. Her disability is not physical, but mental. She will make appointments for lunch, a visit, or shopping. But when the time comes, more often than not she will cancel. It brings to mind the following quote from Thoreau:
Staying inside the house breeds a sort of insanity always. Every house is in this sense a hospital. A night and a forenoon is as much confinement to those wards as I can stand - and then I must go outdoors.
+ pax