Wards, by definition, are a protective enchantment that prevents harm from befalling you, your home, or others. Wards can be constructed in a variety of ways, but the most common is the psychic ward. Put simply, a psychic ward is a combination of magical practices and sheer will; a dominating decision to not experience harm.
Because wards are energy-based, they won't stop you from getting injured when you walk into traffic, but they will cause negative energies, unhappy spirits, or curses to splash off you like water against stone. For obvious reasons, this is extremely helpful and, in many cases, completely necessary. When working with spirits (even your own), you need to set up a ward around your body and spirit. Enveloping yourself in a positive light is a surefire way to keep yourself from getting infected with a parasitic force.
There are dangers to warding, however. Wards, as mentioned before, can be built using a variety of methods. If you're constructing a ward purely for a division between you and something else, but you don't include any positive energy in it, you're not actually building a ward. You're building a wall. The spiritual energy within you will become dammed within you and will stop flowing properly. This may sound crazy. How can a ward, a protective force, hurt me?
I can tell you from personal experience that my absence was heavily related to a ward gone wrong. You see, a little over a year ago, I had been reading tarot cards for a living with some of my friends. It was modest work, but during our readings, we discovered we had been crossed (cursed). We immediately set to work dispelling the curse and returned it to the sender. Once detached, we quickly threw up a few wards. It was a good idea until my fear and paranoia got the better of me. I put up another ward. Then another. By the end of the month, I had 9 wards wrapped around me and my home. I was completely cut off from the spiritual energies moving around me. Without realizing it, my spiritual health declined and I eventually fell away from tarot, from my spiritual side, and from this coven.
It took a long time to realize it, but I'm finally breaking down the wards and letting the energy flow again. Looking back, there was a lot more than the curse that scared me. But fear is the absence of faith and I let it consume me. I cut myself off from spiritualism and it damaged my soul.
While I make a recovery, I thought I'd warn you and offer advice.
If you seek to create a ward, do so, but make sure you're doing it with love, with happiness, and with patience. Don't be afraid. Be faithful. Trust in the light that springs forth from within you. You are a sacred soul, a beautiful entity, a special and powerful being. Trust it. Don't dam up the energy. Don't wall yourself in.