What are some potential pitfalls of using a status variable in PHP for controlling program flow?

Using a status variable in PHP for controlling program flow can lead to code that is difficult to read and maintain. Instead, it is recommended to use explicit conditional statements to control program flow.

// Example of using explicit conditional statements instead of a status variable
$status = true;

if ($status) {
    // Code block to execute if status is true
} else {
    // Code block to execute if status is false
}