As others have said, those prices are pretty standard for pdocs.

As far as not taking meds goes ... virtually any mental health professional would probably say it's a bad idea ... people who have lived experience would tell you that your mileage may vary.

I've been very non-compliant with meds in the past and its had pretty disastrous consequences so now I'm currently back on meds and taking them as prescribed and things have been going well so far. Not all medications will have the terrible side effects that you've read about ... part of starting medication is that you'll unfortunately have to work with your doctor and experiment until you find a combination that works well for you.

So far I've had the best experience with lithium, but that's just me. Conversely, risperdal, abilify, and lamictal were either unhelpful or had such bad side-effects that I stopped taking them against medical advice.