What I'm saying is that when you convince a depressed person to spend their scarce reserves of effort on useless measures, you risk diminishing their ability to convince themselves that the "next step" is worth taking.

Right. If you know the person well, you can probably make a reasonably good decision if it will help or hurt. But on a random internet message board, we don't. Undoubtably there are some people listening who would react as you've described, and some who might actually find a benefit from getting outside. So, if you're listening and suffering, go see a professional. Just keep in mind that if that seems impossible, start by getting yourself out the front door.