Document and Entity Information	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Aug. 01, 2012
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	DEPOMED INC
Entity Central Index Key	0001005201
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Jun. 30, 2012
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	Depomed, Inc. (Depomed or the Company) is filing this Amendment No. 1 (this "Form 10-Q/A") to its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 3, 2012 (the "Form 10-Q"), for the sole purpose of correcting errors within its Interactive Data File included in the Form 10-Q filing as Exhibit 101. In the previously-furnished Interactive Data File, Note 2 - Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities was not block-text tagged and tables from the block-text tagging of Note 7 - Comprehensive income (loss) and Note 9 - Accounts payable and accrued liabilities were not included. No other changes have been made to the Form 10-Q. This Form 10-Q/A continues to speak as of the original filing date of the Form 10-Q, does not reflect events that may have occurred subsequent to the original filing date, and does not modify or update any related disclosures made in the Form 10-Q.
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		56,028,068