Are some people truly better off believing?

[dahrling]

That can't be right.  The value to you might be what best enhances your well-being.  But the desire for the truth is also about wanting to live in the real world, to accept life on its own terms.  Not all of us would choose to take the pill which allows us to stay asleep to the real world.

"Wanting" truth and "desire for" truth are just different ways of stating the fact that the idea of truth enhances your well-being when you think about it. I.e. thinking about it makes you feel better than thinking about the alternative. That's all it means when we say we "value" something higher than something else. Whether you would rather yourself or others know the harsh truth or a comforting lie comes down to how the feelings you get from each of those concepts measure up.

 
I can only speak for myself, but for a period of time my belief in god was very real to me. It felt true. 
I believed in all of it, and the comfort it provided me was more than enough reason for me to shun out the truth I now believe in (that the Earth is billions of years old, that we evolved through natural selection...). 
I can say I had something akin to out of body experiences at times, where I felt this absurd joy fill me up that I still can't explain, but I think it had to do with the fact I believed this immortal, eternal, loving being cared for me and that everything would not only be alright, but that I'd be rewarded for all the pain I had to fight through. It made me feel whole.

Eventually, I outgrew it. No one else in my family has, and while I do find it very sad that they need to believe in a god to feel validated, special, and loved, I also understand how people like my grandmother would find themselves in great emotional pain if they didn't believe all the suffering they have gone through in this life has a "higher purpose", she wants to believe in an eternal life filled with joy.
I don't even try to "deconvert" her, and I avoid talking about religion as much as I can now. I love her, I love my entire family, and if they're happier believing in something I don't believe in, I have no right to criticize them for it, unless if they try to shove their creed down people's throats, but they don't. They don't preach hate, or even the existence of hell, they just want something that can provide them with a simple explanation for the things they don't understand. 
So I guess that means I do believe some people are truly better off having faith in god, just not most people, and not in the way most people believe.