Don't mess around. Seek out a spiritual counselor now.
Inaccurate.
The Church has always had a pope; starting with Peter. The schism did occur as described, but the outcome was the Eastern rite splitting and creating the patriarchs to replace the pope as their leader. Apostolic succession has never been broken in the Church. Sure, there have been heretical popes, but they were always replaced by a valid pope, thus maintaining continuity.