So far, most research funds have been spent on determining the genes associated with mental ill-health.
And while there has been some success in uncovering genes that make people more susceptible to various disorders, specialists say that the true causes of mental illnesses - such as common conditions like depression and anxiety - are life events and environment.
With that in mind, research should be redirected from genetics to understanding the everyday triggers, such as childhood abuse, bullying and unemployment.
"Of course every single action, every emotion I've ever had involves the brain, so to have a piece of scientific research telling us that the brain is involved in responding emotionally to events doesn't really advance our understanding very much," Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Liverpool, Peter Kinderman, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"And yet it detracts from the fact that when unemployment rates go up in a particular locality you get a measurable number of suicides."
"It detracts from the idea that trauma in childhood is a very, very powerful predictor of serious problems like experiencing psychotic events in adult life, so of course the brain is involved and of course genes are involved, but not very much, and an excessive focus on those issues takes us away from these very important social factors."
Almost half of adults will suffer from a mental health condition at some stage in their life and more than a third of GP surgery consultations are due to mental problems.
One in four people in the UK have been diagnosed with some type of mental health problem - most commonly depression. In addition, 18 per cent said they had suffered from such illness, but never been diagnosed.
The UK now has the seventh highest prescribing rate for antidepressants in the Western world, separate figures show, with around four million Britons taking them each year - twice as many as a decade ago.
