What are the potential pitfalls of implementing a delay in MySQL commands using PHP and how can they be mitigated?

Implementing a delay in MySQL commands using PHP can lead to performance issues and potential bottlenecks in the application. To mitigate this, it is important to carefully consider the necessity of the delay and ensure that it is implemented efficiently without impacting the overall performance of the system.

// Example of delaying MySQL command execution in PHP

// Set the delay time in seconds
$delay = 5;

// Connect to MySQL database
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Check for connection errors
if ($mysqli->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $mysqli->connect_error);
}

// Execute MySQL command with delay
sleep($delay);

// Close the connection
$mysqli->close();