How to stop automatic updates and will it cause harm?

Title of the subject pretty much covers the issue I'm having. Last year, while I was working on a specific project, all my Adobe software automatically updated to the next newest version of the software, and when that happened my project file got corrupted. I want to avoid that happening again this year. So if someone could send me a nice how-to guide to turning off automatic updates on all my Adobe Suite software services, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, I would like to know if there are any dangers that come with disabling automatic updates. As in, how long can I go without updating my Adobe software before the programs become too obsolete to function? I am aware that if you don't update at all then your Adobe programs could be more prone to crashing, unlike if you keep you Adobe programs to their latest versions. I just want to know how long I am allowed to go without updating my software until Adobe starts getting a might glitchy. Thanks again for your time today and I'll patiently await a response.