Of course you can not take your Sertraline.
You don't have to take them.
They will not make any of the hard things in your life go away or magically make you better.
Then can have side effects (although most people take them without trouble and most with benefit), usually short-lived and certainly reversible if you stopped.
They do not make you 'happy' off their own back.
They are however a Tool in the Tool Box of Depression treatment, part of what may help you to feel better - why rule them out?
What is it that you fear about them? Would it help to articulate what that was and addressing that specific fear?
Just because your remember ADs not helping your mother says nothing about how they will agree with you or how they will help you. You are your own person.
They won't change who you are.
They will not 'turn you into a zombie'.
They won't make you worse - yes, they may give SE, or they may not (more likely). They may not help, or they may (more likely).
You are unlikely to need them forever.
If you have taken them for a few weeks/couple of months without improvement, you could stop and consider something different.
If you broke your leg, you'd accept that you need a plaster of paris and crutches. You'd expect your leg to mend, and you to get rid of plaster and crutches.
This is a similar thing: ADs can help to prop you up while you get better. When you don't need that 'crutch' anymore you can stop - typically after 6 to 12 months.
Nobody is going to force you to take them, but why not try something that has evidence that it can help with low mood/PND/anxiety?