A young Victorian woman has told the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System her pleas for help were dismissed after attempting suicide as a teenager.

Key points: Amelia Morris has said she was "greeted with silence" when she asked for help

Amelia Morris has said she was "greeted with silence" when she asked for help She told the royal commission one hospital staff member dismissed her suicide attempt as attention-seeking

She told the royal commission one hospital staff member dismissed her suicide attempt as attention-seeking Mental health advocate Patrick McGorry called the gap in services for teens as "lethal"

Amelia Morris grew up in country Victoria, and as a 16-year-old she began struggling with her thoughts and feelings.

"I was having some suicidal thoughts that weren't going away. I had disclosed those to the psychologist and the psychiatrist and they were helping — trying to help me manage those, but I really wasn't getting any better," Ms Morris explained.

Worried about the burden on her family, and stressed about upcoming exams, in 2015 she attempted suicide.

"I remember the hospital staff kind of calling just about every psych ward in Victoria trying to find me a bed, but there was nothing," Ms Morris testified.

Ms Morris, 21, was giving evidence in sessions focussed on prevention and care, near the end of the royal commission's first week of month-long hearings.

The inquiry, called in response to rising suicide rates, is examining shortcomings in the state's mental health system.

'Just nothing there'

Ms Harris said one staff member dismissed her actions as attention-seeking, and the care provided as inadequate and inappropriate.

She was subsequently shuttled between a complex web of referrals, and systems designed to treat completely different problems — at various times being placed in an intensive care unit and a drug and alcohol ward.

"There was really nothing there for me," she said.

"I used to think that you should just ask for help and everything will be sunshine and rainbows.

"I was kind of greeted with silence in return."

Eventually, she found space in a private ward.

"There was nothing available publicly, which is really just so awful. I really don't know what I would have done if we weren't in a position to be able to do that."

'Lethal' gap, says former Australian of the year

Mental health advocate and 2010 Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry described the gap in services for at-risk adolescents like Amelia as "lethal".

Professor Patrick McGorry believes thousands of Victorians are missing out on care. ( Supplied: Patrick McGorry )

"People have died from this," the University of Melbourne psychiatrist said.

Professor McGorry said paediatric care tailed off as people were in the most vulnerable age range, between 16 and 18 years old.

"The system is incredibly weak. It's weakest where it needs to be strongest," he said.

"No thought was given to that as we designed the system."

Professor McGorry said he thought about 300,000 Victorians of all ages were missing out on care.

Closing the gaps

Ric Haslam, director of mental health at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, told the commission that every health professional needed to think about mental health, particularly in rural areas.

"GPs, schools and practitioners are at the front line," he said.

"We use phrase 'no health without mental health'. It is important that these people are supported to see mental health as part of what they do."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 10 seconds 1 m 10 s Royal commission chair Penny Armytage speaks to the ABC's Mary Gearin

Speaking to reporters after completing her evidence, Amelia Harris touched on an emerging theme among witnesses who have testified about their personal struggles — a deep desire to contribute, to their treatment and in life.

"I would like to access more [treatment] to become more functional and really thrive in my life, and not just keep surviving," she said.

Professor McGorry said finding ways to treat people like Ms Morris represented "a massive opportunity" for Victoria to improve health and wellbeing.