The 23-year-old appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court this week charged with making threats to kill, breaching a court order, unlawful assault, recklessly causing injury, assaulting an emergency worker on duty and breaching his bail conditions.

The charges relate to an incident on Friday when the man was severely intoxicated and threatening self-harm in front of his 15-month-old daughter. He was taken to Warrnambool Base Hospital, where he allegedly assaulted a nurse and then a police custody officer.

Lawyer Morgan Adams urged the court to release the man from custody so he could attend South West Healthcare for a mental health assessment and continue his ongoing treatment at the Western Region Alcohol And Drug Centre.

But magistrate Peter Mellas said he had recently bailed two or three other people who said they would attend their local health service for mental health care.

"And do you know what I found out?," he said.

"24 to 48 hours later they're back on the street and three or four days later they're back in the cells after committing further offences."

Mr Mellas presides over magistrates' courts in the Barwon South West region, which includes Geelong.

He said if the man was ordered to attend South West Healthcare, he would likely be assessed and considered for either inpatient care or crisis assessment.

"But you can't tell us what he will do next," he said.

"He'll undergo involuntarily treatment until it is deemed no longer necessary. That's where we don't know what is going to happen a day after that, or three days after that."

The man sobbed in the dock during the bail application.

The magistrate said the man shouldn't be held in custody for longer than needed, but said he was "nowhere near" emotionally stable enough to be released on bail.

The lawyer asked the magistrate to remand his client in custody so more documentation could be obtained, and a further medical assessment could take place.

The magistrate adjourned the bail application and remanded the man in custody.

He said he didn't have the ability to orer a Forensicare psychiatric or psychological report unless the accused pleaded guilty.

And even if he did have the ability, the man would wait up to 12 weeks for the report to take place, the magistrate said.

Forensicare provides psychiatric and psychological pre-sentence reports to courts at the request of magistrates.