Why do people lie to protect your feelings

Yes its not right, you just make it worse by lying, the truth hurts but it is reality.

"When they are hurting them even more by lying?" Not always. I am friends with a who lost his mother at 21 years old from a brain tumor operation that was botched. He had no idea that his mother was even ill let alone admitted to the hospital to have her skull penetrated. They call him the day after she falls into a coma. Ugly huh? Well he arrives abd finds her in a coma and she passes away the day after. Now, according to the aunt and cousin the whole family knew that was going to be operated on. They came clean but the others haven't and they did all that to protect his feelings. In addition it is thought that the mother was kept hooked up to the machines until he came and lied to him that she was in a coma. The guilt and shame. The insane part about it is that he too thinks it was for his good.