DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Nov. 09, 2012
Entity Registrant Name	PSYCHEMEDICS CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000806517
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Trading Symbol	pmd
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		5,272,428
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012